System Proficiency Levels
A hierarchical classification of one's ability to build and understand systems
Epistemic Status: High confidence system building is a skill with proficiency levels. Medium-high confidence these proficiency levels span the current proficiency landscape for the topic of systems, and that these levels are properly ordered. I rely on my academic and professional experiences to formulate expert level proficiency, and I rely on the content creation landscape in “productivity” to formulate intermediate and beginner proficiencies.
Epistemic Effort: Medium effort. Most effort spent on formulating my ideas on this topic. I then further researched my ideas for validation. I wrote the structure and content of the blog post, and used Notion AI for editing assistance. I created the diagram using LucidChart.
"You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems." - James Clear, Atomic Habits
I would append to this quote, “And your systems fall to the level of your proficiency at building systems.”
Individuals can recursively build better behaviors, routines, and life operating systems by focusing not only on developing systems but also on their proficiency at developing systems. The relevance of sheer willpower diminishes in the presence of greater system proficiency.
Improving System Proficiency
Systems are the backbone of everything we do, from practicing and processing information to organizing our days and engaging in the creative process. They provide the machinery for becoming proficient at tasks such as language learning, back squats, or mathematical reasoning. If you want to be an optimizer, system skills should be a priority.
My main point in this piece of writing is to emphasize that the task of building systems also has a spectrum of proficiency–it too, can be optimized.
Sharpening your ability to construct systems, which are the workhorses behind self-improvement, is crucial because it can have a ripple effect across all aspects of your life. Just imagine if you suddenly became twice as effective in your relationships, physical training, financial management, writing production... the return on investment for having high system proficiency cannot be understated.
The Plateau Problem
But there is this plateau problem.
The plateau problem is a phenomenon that occurs when individuals who are learning a new skill or trying to improve their performance reach a point where their progress seems to stall or plateau.
According to Joshua Foer in his book Moonwalking with Einstein, the plateau problem is a result of the brain's natural tendency to resist change and maintain homeostasis.
People across all domains, from track athletes to musicians to chess players, can experience plateaus in their skills.
This is also true for system engineering skills. My hypothesis is that this is often due to a lack of awareness of what the "next level" looks like. Years ago, I discovered August Bradley’s Notion OS demos on YouTube, and my understanding of what was possible with Notion completely shattered. This realization about what the "next level" looks like was all I needed to devise a plan to reach it.
The lesson I learned is that one must explore the broader space of proficiency to diagnose where they are and where they can go.
I always advise aspiring autodidacts to "learn enough to know what you don't know." Knowing what you don't know is my most important principle for self-directed learning. If you want to learn how to build systems, you first need to understand the broader space of what is possible.
In this piece, I will do my best to reveal what that space looks like.
System Proficiency Levels
To make the content space of operating systems and productivity clearer to the expanding population of aspiring system architects, I developed a hierarchical classification scheme called the "System Proficiency Levels." It discretizes the space of system engineering abilities, ranging from the go-with-the-wind hippie to the high rung of system philosophy.
The first step toward advancing your systems to the next level is to diagnose your proficiency. The second step is to understand the entire spectrum of proficiency. Otherwise, you might mistakenly believe you've reached the peak, or perhaps you know you could improve your system-building skills, but are unsure of what you're lacking.
Drifters (System Agnostic)
Some people are completely unaware that their lives are governed by systems and, as a result, they pay no attention to optimizing them. Alternatively, perhaps they believe that systems drain life of excitement. While remaining agnostic to systems might feel locally optimal because it allows you to forgo investing energy and resources, it is apparent that drifting through life can be detrimental in the long term. Attempting personal development at the level of a drifter is a really, really bad idea.
Beginners (System Semantics)
At the beginner level, individuals learn the semantics of systems, which includes understanding the components, functionality, unique interfaces, and objects of software tools. Beginners recognize the value of systems and focus their efforts on becoming fluent with the basic building blocks. Skipping to the flashy stuff, like systems thinking, before mastering the fundamentals (for example, understanding what Notion databases are if Notion is your tool of choice) is a rookie mistake.
Intermediate (Systems Thinking)
At the intermediate level, individuals have mastered the semantics of their tools. However, to successfully design a system architecture that achieves predefined goals, they need to learn systems design and systems thinking. This requires a great deal of creativity and design skills. Individuals at this level may tend to overfit, resulting in systems that are not generalizable. Much of the content aimed at intermediate audiences focuses on showcasing specific systems and passing around templates that are often too complex or overfitted to the creator's idiosyncrasies.
Expert (Systems Science and Theory)
At the expert level, you have experimentalists and theoreticians. Empirical observation and theory interact with each other, as in any scientific domain. Life operating systems, like any other class of systems, are subject to scientific methodologies and philosophy.
System science focuses on studying systems and their interactions with life. Experts identify patterns, run experiments, and recognize that they may not actually know whether a system design will achieve what they think it will.
While system design focuses on creating a specific system to meet a particular need, system science can help inform the design process by providing a deeper understanding of how systems work and how they can be optimized.
Theory covers the guiding principles of systems design, applied systems theory, how to integrate systems into your life, the purpose of systems, system dynamics, and how to determine whether you should build a system.
Some famous system theorists in history include Ludwig von Bertalanffy, Norbert Wiener, and Ross Ashby. Bertalanffy developed the concept of systems theory, which suggests that systems can be studied and understood in a holistic way, rather than as a collection of individual components. Norbert Wiener introduced the concept of feedback, and Ross Ashby coined the concept of homeostasis, which is the ability of a system to maintain a stable internal state despite external changes.
Systems theory informs systems science, and vice versa. It’s the old battle between induction and deduction.
At this level, people can design simpler systems compared to intermediates without losing their effectiveness. Once you reach this level of system proficiency, there’s no telling what you will be able to accomplish.
Identifying Your Proficiency Level
To identify your proficiency level, start by assessing your knowledge and skills in the area of building life operating systems. Evaluate your ability to identify system components, understand how they interact, and optimize them to achieve a desired outcome. Be honest with yourself and avoid overestimating your abilities.
Once you can pinpoint the level of proficiency you have reached, set your aim at the next level and march ahead 💪.
Conclusion
The System Proficiency Levels outline the progression of skill and knowledge when it comes to building life operating systems. Each stage builds upon the previous one, with experts having a deep understanding of systems theory and science. Recognizing where you are on this spectrum is crucial for identifying areas for improvement and taking steps to reach the next level of proficiency. By developing a higher level of proficiency with systems, you can set yourself up to be more effective at life optimization.