Feb 28

Stick With It: Week 1 - Clunky Beginnings and Small Wins

What is the 'Stick with It' Challenge all about? 

Our Director Natalie Savery, has taken on a challenge which will help us to explore what we know about learning, leadership and all things related. 

She's chosen a song to learn from scratch, and from now until the end of March, she’ll be documenting her progress each week and reflecting on what helps us learn and grow. 

If you want to know more about the challenge, check out Natalie's Linked In post here 

Check out the video for week one opposite! 
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When we talk about learning, we often romanticise the idea of progress—gradual, linear, and satisfying. But anyone who’s ever learned something new knows the reality is quite different. Learning is messy, frustrating, and full of clunky practice and false starts. 

This week, as I embarked on my challenge to learn a brand-new song on the drums, I was reminded of just how uncomfortable learning can be. But also, just how powerful structured practice, feedback, and mindset shifts can be in making progress.

The Clunky Start: Why Learning Feels Awkward at First

Knowing the song and reading the notes are two different things! On my first try, I couldn't even equate the notes on the page to what I knew the rhythm should be, and even though I was technically following the notes correctly, I was moving too slowly and awkwardly so it sounded nothing like it should. 

This is a classic example of conscious incompetence—the second stage of the Four Stages of Competence model (Burch, 1970). At this stage, you know what you're supposed to do, but the skills aren't there yet and nothing feels right or natural. 

I was nowhere near the song’s 135 BPM tempo—but each time I practiced, I got a little bit quicker. Research on deliberate practice (Ericsson, 1993) suggests that working slowly and methodically at first actually leads to faster skill acquisition in the long run. It also encourages us to actively identify weaknesses and work on them through specific exercises and strategies.  Taking time to break down the various parts of each bar, practicing the different rhythms helped me to understand what was supposed to be happening! 

The Power of Observation and Feedback

One of the biggest game-changers this week was simply watching my tutor play the song. Before he gave a demo, I just couldn't grasp how my hands should move or how to manage the transitions between sections.  Seeing the rhythm he used made all the difference and I became much more coordinated from that point. 

Social Learning Theory (Bandura, 1977), suggests that we learn effectively by observing others.  When we see someone perform a skill, we create a mental representation that guides our own attempts.  This isn't always for the best - think about the bad habits we might have picked up from observing others. 

I also find getting my tutors feedback is absolutely invaluable. At the start of a song, it's about helping me to get comfortable - 'try using your right hand on that note' but as I progress, he will start to suggest ways I can enhance the sound through variations, tone or volume. As he puts it 'it makes the difference between an okay drummer and a great drummer'!

Being open to feedback is so important if we are going to improve. It gives us a different perspective, points out where we are doing well and where we could improve, and also pushes us to stretch ourselves beyond what we've considered. 

Mastering Transitions:
The Leadership Link

One of the hardest parts for me with every song I've worked on is the transition from one part of the song to another or when there is a big change to deal with. I just get comfortable with a groove, or master a fill and then they go and change it. Sometimes it seems like a tiny change - the addition of a bass drum, or the movement of a note by half a beat. But it completely throws me off, disrupting my flow and making me lose my place.

This struggle isn’t unique to drumming. It mirrors what happens in life and work whenever we are faced with change. 

Change and transitions create uncertainty. In neuroscience, this is linked to the brain’s preference for stability—we’re wired to seek patterns and predictability (Rock, 2008). When those patterns suddenly change, we feel off balance, just as I did when switching between beats.

In my drumming practice, my tutor has taught me that practicing the transition itself can make a huge difference. Making that part of the song flow with ease means that when I come to it when playing it through, I'm ready. So as well as practicing each individual section, I also focus specifically on practicing the moment of change. 

This is true for other changes too. For example, if you’re leading a team or organisation through change, don’t just focus on training them in the "new way"—no amount of training will help if they aren't sure how the transition is going to work. Instead, help people practice the shift between the old and the new.
 - Create safe spaces to try things out and make mistakes.
- Role model the change yourself so they can see how it will work.
- Create ways to communicate and remind people of the times and ways for transition.
- Encourage reflective practice. 

Join me next week to see how I get on with some more practice and, hopefully, a little more confidence!