Confidence or competence: which comes first?

I am watching the re-runs of Masterchef Australia season 13. Somehow this season does not tire. Perhaps it’s the combination of the participants, the type of challenge, and the judges. Most episodes are inspiring, and comforting and get me reflecting. Even on ‘black apron day’ when one participant must leave. Because, at that level, losing is not losing. These are competent cooks whose futures are ‘mapped’ when they qualify for a spot in the competition. The competition helps them hone their competence, confidence and focus their passion in the culinary area that matters to THEM.

Their real journey starts as they leave the competition. Past participants and winners have gone on to open their themed restaurants.

But the Masterchef journey is not an easy one. Some participants who ace their dish one week, fall to the bottom the next sometimes taking them out of the competition. It’s quite bizarre. But we see it in most competitions such as golf, tennis, etc. Those at their peak can lose in the initial round.

Is it the lack of competence or confidence?

Let’s stick with Masterchef and think this through. Participants are highly competent otherwise they would not have qualified. And I believe most are confident otherwise they would not have applied for the competition.

But there is a subtle correlation, between competence and confidence.

First, the definition according to Thomas Chamorro-Premuzic, author of Confidence and Why So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders.

Competence: how good you are at something

Confidence: how good you think you are at something

I noticed that participants faltered when they stepped out of their comfort zone, had to work with ingredients they had never used, or were unable to vision their dish, even with ingredients they were familiar with.

Stepping out of their comfort zone to cook something out of their genre is a big risk in Masterchef. The competition expects this of participants but some push further. This relies on basic competence and good visioning and a whole lot of courage (not confidence). I noticed that when participants cooked non-comfort zone dishes, courage was the driver not confidence.

Same when it came to using ingredients they had never used. It was a strong vision and courage that got them past the finish line.

Visioning their dish is a tricky one. Typically, they struggled because they were trying to conjure up something different from their usual go-to dishes. And risk-taking, courage, and conviction to do something different, hampered visioning.

Sometimes, it left me wondering why they dared to defy the odds on that particular cook, and I hypothesise with some confidence. Because in those instances the judges asked the participants why they dared ‘now’.

Emotions! We are more emotional than rational beings.

It was time to try something new or do something they had not done before. And the creative process is an emotional one.

Feel familiar? We have all experienced the above. Image courtesy of Lynne Cazaly

The participants leveraged their competence and confidence to push their limits. Sometimes it worked but sometimes it didn’t. I fully appreciate this too. I started writing weekly articles about 3 years ago with little competence and confidence to do so. But I knew it was time! My resolve and courage to help people overcome their obstacles was the purpose that drove me to overcome my lack of competence and confidence in writing. Fast forward to today, my competence and confidence have increased because of my weekly habit of ‘penning’ my thoughts down.

So, which comes first? Competence or confidence? I believe neither!

It’s about YOU! What you want to achieve and WHY? And then building a habit to achieve it.

Masterchef participants who dared to try created some of their best dishes with little or no competence and confidence in those dishes. But they leveraged their courage and boldness in cooking something new just as I used courage and resolve in my writing journey.

And here’s the thing, we ALL learn and evolve every day (if we want to).

What they (participants) don’t know, they learn by interning with professional master chefs. I hope to enroll in a writing course soon.

We all have moments when our competence and confidence oscillate based on our context. The diagram below captures the way we feel , and the actions required (in oval) based on where we are.

Image courtesy of Stratford Group.

I believe both competence and confidence can be developed. The most important thing is establishing your ‘why’ for your context. And that is an emotion!

As always, you can reach me at yoga@yoganesadurai.com