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Is there a fix for impostor syndrome?

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Re: Is there a fix for impostor syndrome?

#331

Post by chairmankaga »

slededit wrote: post #330
chairmankaga wrote: post #329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks, you're 100% correct and when I recently explained my history to startups out here they have the exact same reaction. I've been jumping from small pond to small pond until now. This large company's project is outsourced to over 30+ people where none of the devs have even touched React and come from an Enterprise Java background. It's 6+ months and late, when really the product would take a team of about 8 to d…

I was serious, if this is actually the case you literally have to go where people of talent congregate. As you increase in skill those places become fewer - you may have to move.

Thankfully things are changing positively for me.

But I fully agree with what you've said and I will keep it in mind moving forward.

Re: Is there a fix for impostor syndrome?

#332

Post by Traubenfuchs »

randomdata wrote: post #134
Traubenfuchs wrote: post #54

Stop treating being an impostor as something bad. See yourself as con artist who succeeds in senior developer, architect and management jobs without the required skills.

What if you feel like an imposter as a con artist?

Become a cheater.

Re: Is there a fix for impostor syndrome?

#333

Post by blablabla123 »

cyberferret wrote: post #41

My semi-cynical, 35+ years in the industry advice? Avoid blogs, forums, podcasts, social media pages, news sites that only focus on the 1% of startups that make it 'big' seemingly overnight. Go out and talk to fellow entrepreneurs, hackers, company founders and people in the industry, and you will quickly find out that everyone , and I mean EVERYONE goes through a heartless grind and struggle to get things done or to…

That's a smart thing to do...

I had spent several years in this startup bubble - both physically and information-wise - and still do to some degree. So it happened to me that I talked to people I knew to some degree, that have very little technical technical understanding and then half a year later they tell me how they deep dived into some hard to get technology.

That frustrated me a lot and it took me quite some time to understand that they just went step by step through tutorials or fully finished boilerplates with doing very little on top on own initiative.

I remember this one guy even starting to blog about advanced Machine learning techniques on LinkedIn.

> Avoid blogs, forums, podcasts, social media pages, news sites that only

> focus on the 1% of startups that make it 'big' seemingly overnight.

I'm starting to think that Hacker News is one of them. Of course a lot of the information here is very new and up-to-date, and oftentimes I learn from articles and comments (obviously) things that are relevant for work and people like me working in this industry.

But on the other hand I get the impression that I was much happier fiddling around with technology before I touched this startup bubble and one year after started reading HN at least once a day.

Re: Is there a fix for impostor syndrome?

#334

Post by blablabla123 »

sus_007 wrote: post #229
cyberferret wrote: post #41

My semi-cynical, 35+ years in the industry advice? Avoid blogs, forums, podcasts, social media pages, news sites that only focus on the 1% of startups that make it 'big' seemingly overnight. Go out and talk to fellow entrepreneurs, hackers, company founders and people in the industry, and you will quickly find out that everyone , and I mean EVERYONE goes through a heartless grind and struggle to get things done or to…

I totally agree with your statement, but how can one compensate for the fear of missing out of new technologies, interesting discussions among interesting people sharing their insights to the problem in hand, like you're doing with us at the moment. That's the only reason I check Hacker News, or some Subreddits multiple times a day, so that I won't miss that one non-upvoted post which could have proven significant to…

Yeah but there are bizillion other tech related websites and blogs. Those are mostly not as shiny as HN but they have links as well, discussions and buzz words which can be googled. That's basically how I did things in my pre-HN times. Actually Google was my entry-point oftentimes. I think I might have missed certain trends but on the other hand I got much deeper into technologies I actually cared about.

Re: Is there a fix for impostor syndrome?

#335

Post by talmand »

I often have conversations with some of my juniors about imposter syndrome. It's interesting how each of them think of it differently and apply it to themselves differently as compared to their peers.

Some don't seem to have it at all and I've been unable to grasp why one is different than the other. Sometimes it seems connected to self-confidence and sometimes it is not.

Personally, these days I'm feeling it's connected to their seniors and how they interact with them. Or at least how that interaction goes. It's something that I've been pondering over but haven't gotten far enough along to have a theory worthy over a blog post or anything.

As for me, a senior with a dozen plus years experience; I don't feel I've really suffered from imposter syndrome. I've always felt comfortable in what I know and the role I play in each of the positions I've had over the years. I've always been honest with myself and others in what I know and don't know. I suppose that helps in that aspect.

The only times I can think of that I felt the pains of imposter syndrome over the years is during interviews. Mostly trying to equate what I know and my experience with the expectations of people I don't know in an environment I'm not familiar with.

Re: Is there a fix for impostor syndrome?

#336

Post by groby_b »

wolfgke wrote: post #305
groby_b wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, totally. "Our cash flow is bad enough that I need to move debt into the future to - barely - make your salaries" is just the thing you as a boss should say to your people.

You write it satirically, but I believe that being honest to your employees if such a type of problem occurs, is indeed an important virtue of a good leader.

This depends on the industry you are in, and the kind of people you are leading. Many industries are low-margin and have constant cash flow issues.

Telling your employees achieves nothing, in that case - their next job won't be less precarious, they just lose a little bit of piece of mind. You make the active choice that some (who want to see you as a crook anyways, see other replies) think slightly worse of you, while the vast majority can go home and sleep in relative peace.

It's a very different situation if cash flow crunch is completely unexpected, or highly likely to be fatal, with stable businesses around.

As I said above, the situation is always more complex. You make decisions accordingly :)

Re: Is there a fix for impostor syndrome?

#337

Post by Xplosiveoctopus »

always_good wrote: post #294
dirktheman wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really don't get this interview process, and why it's so ubiquitous. I wouldn't care if an interviewee could pass a whiteboard fizzbuzz test if he/she provided some samples of projects they've done. That would tell me much more about your proficiency and methods. I'd be much more interested in finding out if we would have a cultural fit. You can teach certain skills, but if your personality doesn't fit the culture…

But how do you determine if someone's a cultural fit without expending your time and their time? Just seems unavoidable to me, though that's what people often complain about here. Like they want to get a job without putting in any skin of their own. https://hashrocket.com/ had a pretty extreme interview where they flew me out to Florida to pair-program with them for a week. It was a really pleasant experience. Every…

Could you elaborate on how do you go about keeping in touch with people professionally. It’s a struggle for me to even keep in touch with friends. I guess I need to sustematize it somehow, because otherwise I just don’t keep in touch with anyone. I’m 30, so it’s an issue.

Re: Is there a fix for impostor syndrome?

#338

Post by Regardsyjc »

darkerside wrote: post #190

> This is perhaps why women may be more likely to feel like impostors, because they typically do not see themselves reflected and reinforced—in some sense, validated—in the same way that men do. For some reason, I was irked by this comment which seems to be completely unsubstantiated.

The author says you can feel like an imposter when you're a minority, whether gender or race. I think there's much evidence out there about women that are not being validated in the tech and startup space the same way as men... Just look at female founder statistics.

Re: Is there a fix for impostor syndrome?

#339

Post by Regardsyjc »

This article was very refreshing for me because each bullet point was like yes this is totally how I feel. Even reading about this issue gives me a lot of anxiety.

I built a 6 figure business on my own from $1500, imported my first goods from overseas, been validated with mentorship from 7 and 8 figure business owners, I'm now a board member of an org in my industry, and I still have extreme amounts of imposter syndrome.

Even when I realized that the reason I'm not as successful as some of my peers is because they started with a bigger investment than $1500 or that they built their success over years... I can't help but be anxious over what I've achieved in comparison to theirs when I end up thinking about it. I try not to because it's not productive.

I wish there were more resources to overcome imposter syndrome as a founder or business owner.

Re: Is there a fix for impostor syndrome?

#340

Post by darkerside »

Regardsyjc wrote: post #338
darkerside wrote: post #190

> This is perhaps why women may be more likely to feel like impostors, because they typically do not see themselves reflected and reinforced—in some sense, validated—in the same way that men do. For some reason, I was irked by this comment which seems to be completely unsubstantiated.

The author says you can feel like an imposter when you're a minority, whether gender or race. I think there's much evidence out there about women that are not being validated in the tech and startup space the same way as men... Just look at female founder statistics.

I just find it best to keep those kinds of complaints extremely specific. Maybe the founder validation statistics you're talking about have changed since the last study was done. Imagine we'd fixed all race and sex discrimination problems (bear with me for a moment). By leaving unfounded statements like the above littered across the internet, we'd be ensuring that future generations of minorities also feel a vague sense of inferiority. This causes the exact kind of uncertainty the author is concerned about.
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