Conscious Incompetence

Knowing What You Don't Know Is Part of the Process

Some of you just started your summer positions. Others are nearly halfway through. Either way, the adrenaline has likely started to fade a little. The initial excitement and the feeling of I got this may be giving way to confusion, self-doubt, or even a touch of imposter syndrome. (If not, let’s try to keep it that way!)

This is normal.

In the beginning you are in the unconscious incompetence phase. That's the fun one. Ignorance is bliss. You don't know what you don't know and so you think it is easier than it is. This is sometimes called the Dunning-Kruger Effect.

But now you increasingly know what you don't know. This is the hard part. There is a gap between where you are and where you want to be and counterintuitively it is bigger than it seemed when you started. Two steps forward, three steps back?

This is where real growth starts.

You are now in the “consciousness incompetence” phase. The learning phase. The growing phase. Exactly where you are supposed to be. In fact, the best lawyers stay here in some form for their whole careers. So relish it. Accept it. Embrace it.

So don’t run from the gap. Acknowledge it. Work within it. And remember: with the gap comes the gain.

Keep Standing Out,

Jonah