Saturday, June 11, 2022
Welcome back readers! This is the second post of our Mental Model series, if you missed reading the first one, check it out here.
Let us begin with a short story. Consider a small village in the outskirts of Chennai, which has the same population as that of your housing society, which is roughly 300 people. In the village lives an old man, who has literally seen it all. He has been in the village since 1947 and has been a part of all the ups and downs the village went through post independence. He was involved in the construction of the first tubewell in the village. The first school was built right in front of his eyes. He remembers the first time electricity came to the village, although for a few minutes, he remembers it vividly. He survived the pandemic and saw people around him desperate for oxygen cylinders. He is so well versed in the village social circle that he knows what each family of the village is upto. Since the population size we are talking about here is not large, he knows whose child has gone to which town and earns what! He knows which road leads to where, and is aware of all the village shortcuts. If “I know it all” had a face, it would be this old man from this tiny village. He can be termed as a “Lifer” in context to the village.
Now consider a man, 28 years old, who gets his posting as a government secretary in this village (trust me this is not inspired by TVF’s Panchayat). Within a few days the young man thinks he knows all there is to know about. He has met every person of the village, met the police chief, the mayor, the only shopkeeper and the barber. There is nothing unique about the village and the young man is pretty much convinced that he knows everything that the lifer knows. Think for a minute. Can his knowledge about the village be compared with that of the lifer? In context to the lifer, the young man is only a stranger. This detailed knowledge of the lifer and that of the surface knowledge of the stranger is the difference between being inside the circle of competence and outside the perimeter of it.
As long as the lifer is operating in his circle of competence, he can stump the stranger anytime, but not the other way around. The detailed web on knowledge that the lifer possess can help him in making efficient decisions and he is likely to have more than one solution to a problem.
In this particular example, it was easy to figure out who was inside the circle of competence. But how do we use it in our case?
How do you know when you have a circle of competence?
Within our circles of competence, we know exactly what we don’t know. We know what is knowable and what is unknowable and can distinguish between the two. We are aware of all the objections because we have heard them before and are capable of confronting problems with a variety of solutions because we have seen all of them. Circle of competence is not build within a few days. It isn’t a result of taking a few courses and learning a few skills. It is more than skimming the surface. There is no shortcut to understanding. Building a circle of competence takes years of experience and making hundreds of mistakes under your belt to find the best optimal solutions.
How do you build and maintain a circle of competence?
Curiosity & desire to learn, monitoring and feedback are the three vital key practices required to build and maintain a circle of competence. Circle of competence is not a static thing. It is as dynamic as reality is. Learning never stops, so does your circle of competence. One should have the learning attitude always even if you are inside the circle of competence. Learn from your own mistakes as well as the mistakes of others.
“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.”
Monitoring and feedback are the other essential practices to maintain the circle of competence. We humans suffer mostly because we don’t have an honest feedback of ourselves. Whenever it comes to self-feedback, our biases jump in. Hence, we should resort to external feedback. It is extremely difficult to maintain a circle of competence without an outside perspective.
How do you operate outside a circle of competence?
Part of successfully using circles of competence includes knowing when we are outside them and when we are not well equipped to make better decisions. We will often find ourselves as strangers in the world of lifers. It is obviously not possible to be inside a circle of competence in every situation. The world is too big, and your lifespan is too short for that. There are three parts to develop a repertoire of techniques for managing when we are outside of our sphere -
Learn at least the basics of the realm you are in. However, remember that the basics are easier to learn and readily available, which may lead to unwarranted confidence.
Talk to someone whose circle of competence in the area is strong. Do your own research and ask them relevant questions to help you make better decisions. Do not ask for the fish, ask them to teach you fishing.
Use a broad understanding of the basis mental models of the world to augment your limited understanding of the field in which you find yourself as a stranger.
There are going to be inevitable areas where you will be a stranger and not a lifer. We can’t always operate inside our circle of competence. The world is too big for that. We have to implement the technology without having the faintest idea how to fix it if something goes wrong, or design products with an imperfect understanding of our customers. These decisions maybe outside of our circle, but they still have to be made.
See you next Saturday, until then have a great weekend :)
Cheers!
A FEW THINGS KEEPING ME AWAKE
Article: On Children
Video: How Did The Enigma Machine Work?
Song I am listening to: All You Need Is Love by The Beatles
Thought of the week: "We shall be unable to turn natural advantage to account unless we make use of local guides."
MEME OF THE WEEK
SARCASTIC REFLECTION
Here are the last three posts if you were too occupied to read them -