It is a common belief that consciously thinking about what we are doing interferes with our performance. The origins of this idea go far back. Consider, for instance, the centipede's dilemma.
Until one becomes very competant in some task, either a mental task or mechanical task, there has to be conscious cognitive thought. Once the experience is gained and the level of competancy is raised through repeated use and actions, then it becomes more habitual.
I read something about this one time that made sense. When one first starts out and develops skill it is called it is called "competancy", as the actions are continued and expanded that person then realizes that he/she is skilled and that is referred to as "conscious compentancy", farther down the road as the person practices his/her "art" he develops "unconscious competance" where they don't have to think about each step. A good example of this is someone who may frame houses for a living. He doesn't need to consciously think about each step because the process and its associated thinking has become engrained in his thinking.
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One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn't do. Ford, Henry
Re: Going from Good to Great with Complex Tasks
