Practice the simpler skill underneath a failing one
When a harder version keeps collapsing, go back and practice the basic action it is built on, by itself.
Why it works
The 2007 introduction states that less complex tasks must be completed and practiced before more complex tasks can be acquired, and presents this as the account of the developmental changes it describes. In the model, each higher order organizes and transforms the lower-order actions beneath it. If a higher task keeps failing at one specific point, this page infers that the point is often a lower-order action that has not yet been practiced to the point of working reliably.
How to do it
- Note the exact point where the harder task keeps failing, not the whole task.
- Ask which simpler action that point depends on.
- Practice that simpler action alone, in a low-stakes setting, until it reliably succeeds.
- Return to the harder task and see whether the same failure still happens.
Evidence
The developmental claim that simpler tasks are practiced before complex ones is the 2007 introduction’s account of its own stage sequence. Applying it to a single failing task is this page’s extension. (mechanistic)
The model describes how skills develop across a population and lifespan. It does not establish how fast any one person will improve with this drill.
Sources
Common mistake
Repeatedly attempting the full harder task, which keeps failing at the same basic step, instead of practicing that step on its own.
Practice this with IX Coach
More practices for The Model of Hierarchical Complexity, Explained
- Map the sub-steps before judging the task
Before deciding a task is too hard for you, list the sub-steps it needs and note which must happen in a fixed order.
- Practice the step that combines two skills you already have
When you can do two things separately but not together, practice the single move that decides how they fit.
- Tell apart too much information from too little connection
Separate having too many items to hold from having the items but not yet knowing how they relate.
- Define what finished looks like for each step
Decide in advance what a completed step looks like, because a step is either done correctly or not done at all.
- Step up a level when one frame keeps repeating
When the same failure keeps coming back, place your current way of seeing the problem inside a larger system of ways to see it.
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- Cognitive Load Theory: Learning Within Working Memory Limits
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- Kegan’s Subject-Object Theory, Made Practical
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- Terri O’Fallon’s STAGES Model, Made Practical
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- Torbert’s Seven Action Logics of Leadership
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