Not as good as I thought...

I have a problem…

I’ve played guitar recreationally for a number of years.

And while I’ve definitely never thought of myself as a “musician”, I have played in a few gigs and have some ability to learn songs by ear.

However, recently, I’ve noticed something.

I’m not really getting any better.

Despite sitting down and noodling around most days of the week, my actual guitar skills have severely plateaued.

Initially, I chalked the lack of growth up to the fact that since I’ve been playing for a bit it just takes longer to make meaningful strides. But then a good friend recommended that I read the book Think Again by Adam Grant, and my perspective completely shifted.

The entire premise of Think Again is that as humans we develop many opinions/viewpoints that become ingrained within us and inform how we interact with the world around us. Of course, the benefit of developing these lenses is that it allows our brain to do less work on a day to day basis. Go to a restaurant? Boom you already know what to order. See a person wearing your rival sports team’s gear? Bang you know everything you need to about them.

However, as Grant points out, oftentimes these views/opinions can be only partially correct, outdated, or some cases just flat out wrong. As such, Grant reminds us that it is important to continually force ourselves to 1) be aware of the viewpoints that we are holding onto that may not be entirely correct 2) detach our views from our identity so that we may be challenged and ultimately open to changing our minds.

So what does all of this have to do with guitar and/or being an SDR?

Well, what Grant’s book helped me realize is that given our tendency to develop the lenses mentioned above, the real danger zone on the path of 0 —> expert in any skill/discipline is not when we are total beginners. At the beginner stage, we KNOW that we don’t have any ability, so we are open to any and all feedback/coaching.

The really dangerous area is the intermediate stage. At that point, we’ve spent enough time doing whatever the thing is that we’ve developed certain opinions/lenses, BUT we are still very far away from expert territory. In Grant’s words, “it’s when we progress from novice to amateur that we become overconfident. A bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing. In too many domains of our lives, we never gain enough expertise to question our opinions or discover what we don’t know. We have just enough information to feel self assured”.

Below is a graph that Grant shared in the book illustrating this exact point.

As I read this, I realized THIS is the reason I’m not getting any better at guitar. I’m at the exact “danger zone” that Grant describes. I’ve learned enough that my lack of ability is not SO obvious to me every time I pickup the instrument. However, the bit of knowledge I have acquired has completely lulled me into a sense of complacency. It’s given me false confidence about where I stand on the spectrum of beginner —> expert, which in turn has prevented me from continuing to seek out additional knowledge.

As I reflected on this I began to wonder: are there other areas of my life where I am also in this dangerous intermediate stage?

The answer: 100%

So what do we do about it?

Well, I think the first step is probably having enough awareness to realize that we are in this stage.

After that, I think that we have to make a decision: do we want to put in the time/effort to continue progressing?

In many areas of life, being “intermediate” works just fine. I know that I’m okay at cooking, making the bed, and mini golf, but I also don’t feel the need to be much better at any of those things.

When it comes to playing guitar and running a business though, those are things I absolutely want to get better at.

So how does one get past the intermediate zone in the things they want to get better at?

This is completely based on past experience, but when I’ve gotten really good at something in the past (namely, rowing) it’s been the result of having 1) a team around me 2) a coach pushing me.

This may be a personal thing, but I think it’s incredibly hard to move from intermediate to expert without the help of other people. Being an expert in anything, be it sales, guitar, athletics etc. requires a level of daily commitment and discipline that I believe is nearly impossible for one person to conjure up on their own.

Not only that, as Grant has shown us, if we are going at something alone, there is a limit to the amount that we will be able to question our own understanding and knowledge.

At some point, having an outside opinion to help open one’s mind to new perspectives is essential.

So, whether it’s being an SDR, learning a new instrument, or something totally different, I encourage everyone reading this to ask themselves where they’re ACTUALLY at right now. Odds are, every single one of us is probably a little more confident than we should be about our abilities in a certain domain. But that’s not a bad thing. Recognizing that means we’re just one step closer to being a true expert.

As always thank you for reading!

Have a great week!

-Andrew