Duplicate the essence.
The principle
Cognitive duplication is an efficient method for quickly acquiring specific knowledge and certain skills or characteristics. The principle is based on duplicating the insights, knowledge or skills and characteristics of a specific person (source), namely the person who has the highest possible level of insight and knowledge or distinctive skills on a specific topic.
In short, it’s about how you can take knowledge, skills and characteristics from the best in a particular field.
The process
For decades, people have tried in vain to find a route to the summit of Mount Everest. Year after year, numerous mountaineers even lost their lives in the process.
The reason: they lacked the knowledge of a conquerable route to the summit. They had not yet figured out how to climb to the summit.
When Sir Edmund Hillary successfully climbed the summit in 1953, this missing knowledge (insight) was finally gained. This not only made it possible to climb the summit from then on, but also spared all subsequent climbers the lengthy and, in this case, dangerous learning process.
The knowledge that others had learned and developed over decades could now be duplicated by mountaineers with just a simple glance at a map.
This strategy of duplicating knowledge that others may have acquired in lengthy and laborious work is the philosophy of cognitive duplication. The benefit lies in the fact that you can acquire insights or knowledge within a very short time and save yourself the effort of working on them. The same applies to characteristics or specific behaviors that you would like to acquire because they have proven useful to others in certain situations, have led to success or are desirable for some other reason.
The practice
If you don’t know how something is done, then you can’t do it (properly). You don’t have the knowledge! You have not yet realized how something works. If you gain this knowledge, you also gain the ability to do something correctly. This means that insight, knowledge and skills are interlinked: if you gain one, you automatically gain the other.
Knowledge -> Knowledge -> Ability
In practice, you always follow the same principle:
When it comes to knowledge, you look for the person or source who has a high level of knowledge on the topic you want to learn. Then you duplicate the knowledge you have gathered by observing it, questioning it (e.g. through an interview) and then learning it! You take on the condensed knowledge, the essentials. Just as mountaineers only learn the essentials when looking at a map, the route that Sir Edmund Hillary took to the summit. You don’t have to learn everything possible about other routes or attempts.
It’s about the essence.
If you are looking for skills or characteristics, look for the person who has the desired skills or characteristics. Alternatively, you can also look for the source that provides you with the most knowledge for acquiring the desired ability and characteristics. In both cases, you duplicate the knowledge through observation and / or questioning and then apply it. This means that when you come to the realization that a certain way of behaving always seems to lead to a desired result, you adapt the essence of that action – what is done and how is it done? – and apply it in your own way without distorting the action itself.
Example | Step 1:
Petra has just started her new job at an advertising agency, and part of her job involves giving presentations in front of an audience. Now Petra is worried because she has never presented in front of an audience before. She is unfamiliar with the whole process and the situation, which is why she feels insecure when planning her first presentation.
To duplicate the knowledge and skills she lacks, she turns to Beate. Beate has been working at the agency for years and has already organized a number of presentations.
In order to learn the necessary skills as quickly as possible, Petra uses cognitive duplication with Beate in two steps: Questioning and observation.
In the first step, she asks Beate a series of questions:
– How does she prepare?
– How does she prepare herself mentally?
– How is she dressed?
– How does she greet those present?
– What atmosphere does it create?
– How does she introduce her presentation?
– How does she structure her presentation?
– How does she lead the conversation?
– How does she deal with questions?
– How does it present itself?
– What key does she use?
– What volume does it use?
– How does it move?
– How does she use gestures?
– How does she deal with slips of the tongue?
– How does she breathe?
– How does it interact?
– What does she pay attention to?
– How does she end the presentation?
Example | Step 2:
In the second step, she accompanies Beate during a presentation and observes how she proceeds with the individual points. These are just a few questions and observations that Petra can use to duplicate Beate’s knowledge and skills. Depending on the situation and personal level of knowledge, the individual gaps need to be filled by asking questions and observing.
When duplicating, i.e. implementing, what you have learned, you should always make sure to remain authentic! Bring in your style, your personality and your words and avoid simply repeating, copying or memorizing!
Cognitive duplication teaches you what you want to do. However, you need to add the “how” component. How you will do it – your way.
To do this, you first determine your “what” : what do you want to duplicate (learn)? Then you define your “how”: how will you implement it?
Tip: Use the cognitive duplication checklist. Enter your observations or answers words and insights(what). Then create your individual interpretation by defining your personal way of acting(how), statement or form of expression.
You should not only record and interpret content, forms of expression or characteristics. You should also make a note of physical abilities, behaviors or specific gestures and describe how you will implement them.
The only important thing is that you present your findings in your own individual way. Authenticity is particularly important. If you feel strange because you have the feeling that you are copying someone, then you should perhaps complete the self-confidence tutorial and the self-confidence test again. This way you can make sure that your self-confidence is not standing in your way.
This is how you apply cognitive duplication:
1. Define the subject you want to know everything about or the skill or quality you want to acquire.
2. Research studies, publications, lectures, articles, videos, films, etc. on the topic.
3. Ask source persons or experts, specialists, developers and/or inventors about the topic.
4. Observe the behavior of people who possess these skills/qualities or how they put these skills/qualities into practice.
5. Transfer what you have learned and observed = your insights into your Cognitive Duplication Matrix and think about how you will implement it in your individual way.
6. put your new knowledge, skills or characteristics into practice with confidence!