Awareness: A Considerable Advantage

A lack of awareness can result in missing huge opportunities. Remember Tim Paterson, the programmer who wrote the DOS operating system that Bill Gates purchased for a mere $50,000? Gates had already signed a license agreement to provide software for IBM’s PC computers, but he needed an operating system. To fulfill his agreement, he hired Seattle Computer Products, where Paterson worked, to develop the 86-DOS operating system without divulging that IBM was the customer. When the owners of Seattle Computer Products discovered what Gates had done, they accused him of swindling them by not disclosing the customer’s name. Gate’s fledgling Microsoft Corporation settled by paying an additional $1 million to Seattle Computer Products. You know the rest of the story. It was Gates’ original licensing agreement with IBM that laid the foundation for Microsoft’s current dominance of the $250 billion software industry. What a high price to pay for being “unaware”—a price paid by both Seattle Computer Products and IBM.

Based on sound behavioral science and research, two basic variables determine a person’s level of competence in any field of endeavor—awareness and ability. The combinations of being aware or unaware and able or unable establish four fundamental levels of competence ranging from Novice to Master are as follows:

-Unaware and Able  (Masters)
-Aware and Able  (Best Teachers and Coaches)
-Aware and Unable  (Best Teachers and Coaches)
-Unaware and Unable  (Novices)

Ironically, both Novices and Masters experience a lack of awareness. The Novice is understandably unaware and unable, needing to be trained and guided to become competent. Masters, on the other hand, have become so competent and proficient that their behavior is often ingrained, allowing them to do what they need to do without giving it much thought—they operate on “autopilot,” demonstrating ability without conscious thought. When was the last time you consciously thought about tying your shoelaces or peeling an orange or driving a car? Imagine yourself cruising down the highway at 70 miles an hour, at the able and unaware level, when the car in front of you suddenly brakes. Most of us experience an abrupt drop in our level of competency from “unaware and able” to “unaware and unable,” momentarily paralyzed, not knowing whether to change lanes, pass the braking car, or slam on the brakes, praying that the person in the car behind you is more “aware and able” to quickly react to the situation.

Yes, a lack of awareness—even when it stems from a high level of competency and proficiency—almost always leads to overlooked or undervalued opportunities. Moving to the two levels of competency that involve being aware—“aware and unable” and “aware and able”—allows you to see things as they really are, enabling you and those around you to capitalize more effectively on existing opportunities. It will also make you a more effective Mentor, Teacher, and Coach. Masters (unaware and able) are often ineffective teachers or coaches—unless they strive to become more aware—because they have become so uncon­scious and “habitual” at performing the task that they have forgotten all the little steps it took for them to become masterful at the task.   Regardless of your current level of competence, if you don’t want to see your people floundering with insufficient skills or struggling to figure things out on their own, increase your awareness of the training they need to better meet your expectations.

Here are just a few indicators that you are, indeed, aware of your own competency and the competency levels of your people, including their (and your own) current needs for training: 1) you can easily identify the top area in which you need training and can see how that training would allow you to deliver more fully on the expectations others have of you; 2) you have participated in some kind of training during the last year to enhance your ability to fulfill the expectations others have of you; 3) you have encouraged the people you are counting on to get the training they need to ensure their ability to deliver; 4) you have supported (both directly and indirectly) the training of others in your Expectations Chain during the last six months; and 5) you often suggest additional training for others as a remedy for unmet expectations.

If you find yourself being more unaware than aware, you may be experiencing an excess of unmet expectations simply because you have not applied the necessary training for putting yourself and your people on the path to delivering greater results. Becoming more aware, and staying aware, by using suitable training as a solution can pay large dividends in terms of efficiency, effectiveness, and delivering results.