Skill Acquisition – The Infinite Road to Mastery

It was 4:30am when I was cruising along the empty desert highway on a cool and dark early morning in March. The fog was particularly intense that day with heavy patches of fog along the way, and at some points I had to come to a complete standstill due to the lack of visibility.?The journey was a formidable three and half hours to the designated meeting point.?It was a special day, as I would finally experience an advanced 4x4 technical drive on some of the more challenging dunes in the UAE. ?The destination was Al’Quaa, a very remote desert locations in the country.?Al’Quaa is also referred to as “the Milky Way spot,” as it is considered one of the darkest places in the nation with very little, if any, light pollution; making it a terrific location to see the Milky Way.

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I picked up more serious off-road driving just over two years ago, and have been gradually developing this new set of skill through a combination of reading, coaching, and above all, getting into the driver seat and experiencing it first-hand. ?While mistakes in this recreational activity can potentially be costly, the only way to really learn is to sit in the drivers’ seat. ?This trip to Al’Quaa was designated an advanced level drive, and it would be the opportunity to put everything I had learned so far to the test. The drive would include high speed dune cresting and switches. ?The journey turned out to be everything I was hoping it would be -- an adrenaline packed adventure drive through some of the most scenic regions in the country, and the ultimate learning experience.?As I now reflect back on that day, on my nervousness and preparation leading up to it, and the overall topic of “skill acquisition” from my months of off-roading training, I would like to share three important aspects of new skill adoption:

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1.??????Take the Plunge: At some point every student will have to take that leap of faith and just jump into it. There is no degree of class room training or studying that can replace first-hand practical experience. We can only learn, develop and grow when we push ourselves outside of our comfort zones and take a bit of risk. In fact, failure is one of the essential ingredients to learning. You cannot really have one without the other.?This does sometimes require that extra boost of self-confidence, and putting oneself out there.?As I sat in my car’s cockpit, revving my engine, getting ready to launch up that 200+ meter dune, not knowing exactly what is on the other side, my mind raced through everything I had learned till that point. I was ready to get into the moment.

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2.??????Be in the Moment: Too often do I hear people tell me that they simply cannot focus on the task at hand. Their minds cluttered with something in the past – maybe around some further training they “should have” done – or in the future, around what they will be doing after this. All while forgetting that life and a ton of learning actually happens “in the moment.” When executing a skill, focus your mind and body 100% on what it is you are doing. Try to take in and register every aspect of the experience you are going through.?There is a remarkable amount of learning and skill improvement that can happen if you truly focus and unclutter the mind from thinking of the past or the future, even if jus for a little while. ?On my drive, while I was executing high speed switches from one side of a huge dune to the other, I tried hard to remain fully in the moment, feel the car, where gravity is pulling me, and get just the right angle of approach to avoid a potential rollover. I was mentally recording all these attempts so that I could learn from them and execute it better on my next attempts. ?

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3.??????The Infinite Road to Mastery: While stopping for a break on our expedition, I got into a discussion with one of the other drivers who has been doing this for over 15 years.?He said that every adventure out is a new experience with ample opportunity to learn new tricks.?He said to me, “never have a mindset that you have mastered it all.” This was a powerful message to never lose your humility. If you think you’ve conquered it, think again. There is always something new to learn and experience. As we acquire knowledge and develop our skills in life it is like a series of plateaus on an infinite landscape to Mastery (George Leonard 1991). No matter how many flying hours a pilot has under his/her belt, there is always that new experience to learn from. We should always remember that, even if we have great expertise in the task at hand.??

As we reflect on our leadership journeys, the above aspects can be applied to pretty much any skill activity. It could be as simple as doing a basic presentation or contributing to an important team discussion, or something a bit more nervy such as conducting a keynote speech to a large audience.

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Keep on putting yourself out there as the road to mastery is a long and exciting journey. ?

-- Assaf AlQuraishi