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Imposter syndrome is fueled by colleague deification. It's easy to view smart coworkers as superpeople... until you're reminded that they, on occasion, make du

by ethbr1 2y ago

Imposter syndrome is fueled by colleague deification. It's easy to view smart coworkers as superpeople... until you're reminded that they, on occasion, make dumb human mistakes too.

TheNewsIsHere 2y ago
This is a fantastic insight. I used to suffer from imposter syndrome significantly. It helped to see the mistakes others made which anyone could have made. It also helped to have my own good ideas and talent explicitly acknowledged. Learning to not take criticism personally and own your own mistakes also helps to rob imposter syndrome of its power because it demonstrates to others that you can be forthright and self aware, and that helps build trust.
tpmoney 2y ago
I’ve found one of the best things I can do to help my jr devs feel more confident (and be willing to ask for help) is highlight my screwups and “basic” things I’ve just learned. It make me seem more approachable and less like everything I say is a pronouncement from on high, it makes them more willing to admit to their own mistakes, it clarifies that we’re all learning stuff all the time and it helps spread knowledge about things that folks might otherwise be too afraid to ask about for fear of looking silly. A benefit of being a sr dev is getting the benefit of the doubt on mistakes, so I might as well use that to my advantage and let everyone learn from them, not just me.
- progmetaldev 2y ago
  I 100% agree with you, and have used the same technique. Showing juniors that you are also human and make mistakes allows them to be less anxious about learning and trying new things. It also helps to keep them from trying to hide their mistakes which can quickly lead to larger system issues. Of course, you have to have a culture where making a mistake doesn't immediately lead to being let go or publicly reprimanded. I have definitely learned quite a few things about people and code by helping juniors work through bugs that may not have been so obvious (including occasionally finding bugs in 3rd party libraries).
  - cabidaher 2y ago
    Pitching in to your and parent comment but from the junior side to say that yes, this definitely helps :)
hinkley 2y ago
I find that I have to argue a lot for making systems where humans are allowed to be human and not burn the house down. Operationally, people gravitate toward trying to treat the humans as machines. We have machines for that.

by ethbr1 2y ago

Imposter syndrome is fueled by colleague deification. It's easy to view smart coworkers as superpeople... until you're reminded that they, on occasion, make dumb human mistakes too.

TheNewsIsHere 2y ago

This is a fantastic insight. I used to suffer from imposter syndrome significantly. It helped to see the mistakes others made which anyone could have made. It also helped to have my own good ideas and talent explicitly acknowledged. Learning to not take criticism personally and own your own mistakes also helps to rob imposter syndrome of its power because it demonstrates to others that you can be forthright and self aware, and that helps build trust.

tpmoney 2y ago

I’ve found one of the best things I can do to help my jr devs feel more confident (and be willing to ask for help) is highlight my screwups and “basic” things I’ve just learned. It make me seem more approachable and less like everything I say is a pronouncement from on high, it makes them more willing to admit to their own mistakes, it clarifies that we’re all learning stuff all the time and it helps spread knowledge about things that folks might otherwise be too afraid to ask about for fear of looking silly. A benefit of being a sr dev is getting the benefit of the doubt on mistakes, so I might as well use that to my advantage and let everyone learn from them, not just me.

progmetaldev 2y ago
I 100% agree with you, and have used the same technique. Showing juniors that you are also human and make mistakes allows them to be less anxious about learning and trying new things. It also helps to keep them from trying to hide their mistakes which can quickly lead to larger system issues. Of course, you have to have a culture where making a mistake doesn't immediately lead to being let go or publicly reprimanded. I have definitely learned quite a few things about people and code by helping juniors work through bugs that may not have been so obvious (including occasionally finding bugs in 3rd party libraries).
- cabidaher 2y ago
  Pitching in to your and parent comment but from the junior side to say that yes, this definitely helps :)

hinkley 2y ago

I find that I have to argue a lot for making systems where humans are allowed to be human and not burn the house down. Operationally, people gravitate toward trying to treat the humans as machines. We have machines for that.