Upgrade Spreadsheet: A system to build changes / upgrades into your mind.
/By Duncan Anderson. To see all blogs click here.
Reading time: 5 mins
Summary: Life doesn’t get easier, you get better at it… if you can systematically put changes / upgrades into your mind. Below is one system I use to try to upgrade. Very inventively I’ve called this the ‘Upgrade Spreadsheet’.
Human mind ability = Number of upgrades one has put in
A framework:
Unconscious incompetence
Conscious incompetence
Conscious competence
Unconscious competence
Comment
They say “Your conscious mind is limited. You unconscious mind is limitless.” You conscious mind has 4-7 working slots of memory, but you can have unlimited number of ‘unconscious upgrades’ in your mind.
How do you go from “Unconscious incompetence” to “Unconscious competence”?
Figure out “1. What you want to change” and then “2. Have a system to build the change”
Jingle: Hope is not a strategy. But hopefully if you use the spreadsheet below you’ll cumulatively build upgrades
How to change = 1. What you want to change / upgrade * 2. Have a system to build the change / upgrade
1. What you want to change / upgrade
There are many ways to identify areas for self improvement. I’m not really going to spend time here on this area.
Suffice to say I think you should be reading, writing, thinking and talking to others constantly about things you want to change.
As an example, after most meetings and bigger projects do Post Game Analysis with someone to find possible areas you want to upgrade in.
2. Have a system to build the change / upgrade
I have a spreadsheet open all day every day with date on the x-axis and things I want to change on the y-axis which I call the ‘Upgrade Spreadsheet’. See examples below of the Upgrade Spreadsheet.
Then check the Upgrade Spreadsheet multiple times a day (eg morning, lunch and end of day) where I fill out next to each y-axis item if I have performed the new desired change / upgrade.
I give myself one point for everything I do and a negative 1 point if I forgot to do something / did it poorly.
I need to constantly check on ‘potential upgrade areas’ for them to eventually become ‘unconscious upgrades’.
Over time things can move from: “Unconscious incompetence => Conscious incompetence => Conscious competence =>Unconscious competence”.
Once you hopefully get to “Unconscious competence” you can stop needing to track this item in the Upgrade Spreadsheet.
How long does it take to build an upgrade (aka Unconscious competence)? I’ve found it’s related to 1. How frequently you encounter a circumstance where you you can do the upgrade * 2. If you do the desired upgrade.
Examples
Example 1: implementing a framework for how to problem solve
1. What you want to change / upgrade
Let’s say that you have built a problem solving framework that you want to use. It can look like this:
No new (aka no problem solving) = go with what worked last time
Medium amount of new (aka medium amount of problem solving) = 2-3x options put forward and propose your favoured solution
Large amount of new =
1. Who is this problem for and create personas
2. Set Jobs To Be Done for the personas
3. MECE up the problem space
4. Create model from the MECE
5. Crunch scenarios through the model
6. Synthesize
2. Have a system to build the change / upgrade
Here is what an Upgrade Spreadsheet could look like for implementing this problem solving framework.
What I find normally happens is that you don’t ever remember to do the desired ‘upgrade’ (unconscious incompetence).
Then you slowly remember to do it as you remind yourself about doing it multiple times a day but you are not great at doing it (conscious incompetence).
Then you do things as you are reminded by the Upgrade Spreadsheet and you do things well (conscious competence).
Finally you don’t need to have this item in your Upgrade Spreadsheet as 90%+ of the time you remember to do the item (unconscious competence).
Example 2: Direct approach Vs Indirect Approach
1. What you want to change / upgrade
You decide that most of the time you should try the ‘indirect approach’ first, if this isn’t working then you slowly get around to the direct approach.
An example of direct vs indirect approach:
You have an idea for a product that you think someone should be considering:
Direct approach: I think we should put this idea into the product.
Indirect approach:
I’ve been thinking about the idea of ‘skills’ as a separate concept we can use to make the curriculum interesting and relevant.
Then you sit and chat for 1 hour to explore the idea of skills.
After this chat you ask the other to write some metacognition thoughts about the idea of ‘skills’?
Then, after this, you ask them if they think they want to include the idea of ‘skills’ in the product. Normally you are on the same page, but if not you have the basis for a really interesting conversation!
2. Have a system to build the change / upgrade
How I would put this into the spreadsheet.
What not to do (what 10 years ago Duncan used to do)
Read about something you think is cool and then hope that you’ll start magically doing it.
Get feedback from someone once that you think is quality and then hope you’ll remember to action at the appropriate time in the future.
If you only take away one thing
They say “Your conscious mind is limited. Your unconscious mind is limitless.” Your conscious mind has 4-7 working slots of memory, but you can have an unlimited number of ‘unconscious upgrades’ in your mind.
Jingle: Hope is not a strategy, but a good strategy can give you hope. If you want to upgrade, upgrade how you do upgrades!
Try using some form of an ‘Upgrade Spreadsheet’ and checking in on it multiple times a day. It’s so much fun.