The Dreyfus Model of Skills Acquisition

Understanding how team members develop skills is crucial for building high-performing self-organizing teams. While many leaders use intuitive approaches to assess skill levels, having a structured framework can dramatically improve how leaders support skill development. The Dreyfus Model of Skills Acquisition provides exactly this framework, a clear roadmap showing how individuals progress from novice to expert in any skill domain.

Understanding the 5 Stages of Skill Development

The Dreyfus model of skills acquisition developed by brothers Stuart and Huber Dreyfus covers a similar concept as ShuHaRi but uses 5 stages from novice to expert instead of just 3 stages. This model offers finer granularity as you follow a progression from rigid adherence to rules to an intuitive mode of reasoning based on tacit knowledge.

Stage 1: Novice

At the novice stage, team members exhibit:

• Rigid adherence to taught rules or plans
• No exercise of “discretionary judgment”
• Dependency on clear instructions
• Limited context for why procedures exist
• Focus on following steps correctly rather than understanding outcomes

Team Example: A new developer who can follow coding standards and complete tasks when given explicit instructions, but struggles when facing ambiguity or exceptions to standard procedures.

Stage 2: Advanced Beginner

As team members progress to advanced beginners, they develop:

• Limited situational perception
• All aspects of work are treated separately with equal importance (cannot prioritize)
• Recognition of recurring aspects of situations
• Beginning to apply guidelines in context
• Still needing support for troubleshooting

Team Example: A product team member who has learned to write basic user stories and can follow the team’s established templates, but has difficulty distinguishing between high-value and low-value features.

Stage 3: Competent

The competent stage represents a significant step forward, with team members now:

• Making conscious choices without full certainty
• Coping with multiple activities and information sources
• Perceiving actions in relation to longer-term goals
• Planning deliberately
• Formulating routines for efficiency
• Taking responsibility for outcomes

Team Example: A quality engineer who can create comprehensive test plans, prioritize critical test cases, and adapt testing strategies based on risks and timeline constraints.

Stage 4: Proficient

Team members reaching the proficient stage demonstrate:

• Learning from the experience of others
• Holistic view of situations rather than isolated aspects
• Clear prioritization of importance
• Perception of deviations from normal patterns
• Decision-making using maxims that adapt to each situation
• Self-correction when approaching problems incorrectly

Team Example: A senior analyst who can look at a dataset and immediately recognize anomalies, knows which analysis techniques will be most valuable for specific business questions, and can guide junior team members through complex analytical challenges.

Stage 5: Expert

At the expert stage, team members have achieved:

• Recognition as a go-to resource by peers
• Transcendence beyond reliance on rules, guidelines, and maxims
• Intuitive grasp of situations based on deep, tacit understanding
• Vision of what is possible beyond conventional approaches
• Analytical approaches for new situations or when problems arise
• Ability to innovate in their domain

Team Example: A technical architect who can envision elegant solutions to complex problems, recognizes patterns across seemingly unrelated systems, and makes intuitive design decisions that later prove optimal through formal analysis.

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/03b9/d72b156c45b4855d300b28181e75e70bad5a.pdf

The 4 Binary Qualities That Drive Development

The Dreyfus model identifies four binary qualities that transform as individuals progress through the stages:

1. Recollection (Non-situational → Situational)

• Novice/Advanced Beginner: Recalls rules independent of specific situations
• Competent/Proficient/Expert: Recalls relevant information based on situational context

2. Recognition (Decomposed → Holistic)

• Novice/Advanced Beginner/Competent: Breaks down situations into component parts
• Proficient/Expert: Sees situations holistically, recognizing patterns without conscious decomposition

3. Decision (Analytical → Intuitive)

• Novice/Advanced Beginner/Competent: Makes decisions through conscious analysis and deliberate choice
• Proficient/Expert: Makes decisions intuitively, based on tacit knowledge and experience

4. Awareness (Monitoring → Absorbed)

• Novice/Advanced Beginner/Competent: Constantly monitors their performance against rules
• Proficient/Expert: Becomes absorbed in the task with awareness shifting to strategic concerns

The fundamental idea is that when teaching a concept, you have to tailor the style of teaching to where the learner is in their understanding and that progression follows a common pattern. Early stages of learning focus on concrete steps to imitate, the focus then shifts to understanding principles and finally into self-directed innovation. The skill level is tied to a mental function transitioning from recollection (non-situational or situational), recognition (decomposed or holistic), decision (analytical or intuitive), and awareness (monitoring or absorbed)

Applying the Dreyfus Model in Team Environments

The real power of the Dreyfus model emerges when applied at the team level. Here’s how it can enhance team development:

Skill Mapping Across Team Members

Every team contains members at different development stages for different skills. A senior developer might be an expert in backend development but only competent in frontend technologies. A product manager might be proficient in stakeholder management but an advanced beginner in technical aspects.

Creating a skill map that identifies where each team member sits on the Dreyfus scale for critical skills helps leaders:

1. Identify capability gaps
2. Create effective mentoring pairs
3. Allocate work appropriately
4. Develop targeted training plans

Communication Adaptation

One of the most valuable applications of the Dreyfus model is understanding how to communicate effectively with team members at different stages:

• Novices need clear step-by-step instructions with minimal options
• Advanced Beginners benefit from guidelines with some contextual information
• Competent performers need objectives and context but can determine their own approach
• Proficient team members thrive when given the big picture and constraints
• Experts perform best when given the problem and desired outcome with maximum autonomy

Misalignment between communication style and skill level frequently causes team friction. A leader who provides only high-level direction to a novice will create anxiety, while one who gives detailed instructions to an expert will create frustration.

Creating Development Plans

The Dreyfus model provides a foundation for creating clear development plans for team members:

1. Assessment: Identify current stage for each critical skill
2. Goal Setting: Establish target stages for specific timeframes
3. Support Planning: Determine appropriate support for each transition
4. Progress Tracking: Monitor development through observable behaviors
5. Celebration: Recognize stage transitions as significant achievements

In our Building High-Performing Teams Workshop, participants engage in practical exercises that help them apply the Dreyfus model to their specific team context. Through hands-on activities, they learn to identify skill stages, create development plans, and adapt their communication approaches to maximize team effectiveness.

Dreyfus and Situational Leadership

The Dreyfus model provides the theoretical foundation for Situational Leadership, which focuses on how leaders should adapt their style based on team member development levels. Let’s look at Situational Leadership next.

Further Reading:

Also check out the complete Fostering Self-organizing Teams series:

• What is a Self-Organizing Team?
• Scrum Magic! Do Scrum – Become Hype-productive!
• 3 Models for Skills Acquisition
• The 3 Stages of Shu Ha Ri for Gaining Knowledge
• The Dreyfus Model of Skills Acquisition
• Situational Leadership
• The 5 Stages of Tuckman’s Group Model
• Drexler/Sibbet Team Performance Model
• The ScrumMaster’s Role in Fostering a High Performing Self-Organizing Team
• 7 Attributes of a Self-Organizing Team
• Delegation Board for Fostering a Self-Organizing Team
• The ScrumMaster’s Progressive Delegation Responsibility
• Fostering Self-Organizing Teams Presentation