Photo by Kristina Flour on Unsplash
It can be a terrifying situation: You’ve been invited to an important meeting full of experienced, accomplished colleagues. Someone makes an intriguing insight. You don’t quite agree, but you’re hesitant to give your input.
Then, your boss does the unthinkable. She asks your opinion. You give your thoughts, terrified everyone will uncover your secret: you don’t know what you’re doing. To no one’s surprise, but maybe your own, the room nods along in agreement. Somehow you’ve managed to trick them all again. Or did you?
What a lot of people don’t realize is that we’ve all been there. Imposter Syndrome is surprisingly common. According to one research paper, Imposter Syndrome has affected up to 70% of people at some point in their lives.
While Imposter Syndrome is common across many industries, it’s becoming especially common in the software industry. It’s now commonplace for tech companies to open their ranks to self-taught and boot camp graduates. Not having a fancy diploma from a big name school can compound this problem.
Regardless of your pedigree, it’s important to know that everyone goes through this. It’s a completely normal phase on your journey to becoming an experienced professional. Don’t worry, you’re not alone.
My Story
I didn’t go to a fancy design school. In fact, it took me more than eight years and two colleges to even get a bachelor’s degree. I either taught myself or I learned from colleagues and mentors throughout my sixteen-year career. In fact, I’m still learning today.
I felt completely unprepared for the next step, because I really wasn’t prepared for the next step.
Not having a formal education has always been something that I felt was holding me back. I was never quite sure of myself. I was always wondering if I sounded like I didn’t know what I was talking about. I was constantly worried I would be outed as a fraud.
In 2003 I taught myself how to write HTML and CSS. I built my band’s website, and it wasn’t long before I started building websites for friends’ bands. Eventually, I was charging a few hundred dollars and a six-pack of beer. Not bad for a broke college kid.
In August of 2005, Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding devastated my hometown of New Orleans. Having no real direction in life and a bit of survivor’s guilt, I decided to drop out of school altogether and move back home, waiting tables full time, playing music on the side, and doing freelance design for local small businesses like restaurants, recording studios, and musicians.
In 2008 I got a job at a local ad agency without a design degree. Not realizing how impressive that was on its own, starting to work with designers who actually had design degrees made me extremely uncomfortable. For the first time, I felt like I was an outsider. No one ever mentioned it or called me out, but there was always that little voice in the back of my head telling me I didn’t know nearly as much as my design school graduate colleagues.
Over the course of my advertising career, I won some awards, and I had some work featured in publications. But that whole time I didn’t really think what I was doing was that impressive. Maybe I was just lucky. Maybe somehow I managed to trick everyone into thinking I could design. But friends and colleagues would push me along, convincing me I did know what I was doing and was actually pretty good at it. Even if that little voice in my head was telling me I was a fraud.
Eventually, I moved from advertising to UX design, working at a startup. The trouble with a really small startup like where I ended up is that I was on my own. If I screwed up it was all on me. I found myself, once again, filled with self-doubt and fear that I was a fraud. What on earth was I doing? I didn’t know the first thing about UX design, other than the few books I had read or my own experience using software.
Over time, I started to realize that I was actually pretty good at this whole UX thing. The software I was designing was adding real value for our clients. The self-doubt started to subside and my confidence grew. I started to network. I started to speak at meetups. People started seeking out my opinion, asking me for help.
My role at work expanded and I became the lead designer, mentoring younger designers. Again, the self-doubt and fear came back. What do I know about mentoring other designers? Why should they listen to me? What could I possibly offer them?
But again, my team grew. Our team delivered awesome apps that delivered real value. A couple of the apps we designed split off to get venture funding and are doing great now, with large sets of users across the globe.
in 2016 I made the biggest jump of my career. Moving to one of the world’s largest industrial conglomerates. I ended up as the UX lead on a product used by teams across the world on four different continents, leading a team of designers across the US and Europe supporting eight pods of engineers. I knew how to lead a team when everyone was in the same room, but Jesus, what did I know about leading teams remotely? How could I keep this team together, producing great work and delivering real value to the business? How could I keep them motivated and engaged? How could I possibly get them to trust me? Again the doubt and fear came back.
But somehow we did it. And now, that piece of software is the bedrock manufacturing software for the company that produces over a third of the world’s electricity. It’s an incredible accomplishment.
In 2019 I started this podcast with Derek. And everyday I ask myself “What do I know about podcasts?” and “Will people take us seriously?” The self doubt never really goes away. But I keep going anyway.
Here’s the deal
At each phase of my career, I felt completely unprepared for the next step, because I really wasn’t prepared for the next step. It wasn’t until I started doing it that I figured out how to do it. It probably wasn’t great at first. Sure, I made some mistakes. But, I fixed what didn’t work, and I continued moving forward, into the unknown.
If you wait until you think you’re ready, you’ll be waiting around forever.
But, I never did it alone. I surrounded myself with people smarter than me. I asked for help when I needed it. I learned from people with more experience. Most importantly, I was willing to admit when I was wrong and change for the better.
The fact is no one is as prepared or put together as you think they are. The people with the fancy degrees are just as unprepared and terrified as you. You don’t really start learning until you start doing. So at the very least, all that fancy degree does is give a boost of confidence. If you wait until you think you’re ready, you’ll be waiting around forever.
Some tips to get out of that rut
Stop thinking about it, and just do it. If you think you aren’t prepared for the next step, you’re probably right. But if you’re willing to admit that you don’t know, you’re better off than most people. Just start learning that new thing. Just start applying for those jobs. Just start submitting for those awards. Just start applying to speak at those events. You’ll never get where you want to be if you don’t just start.
If you’re just starting out in your career, no one expects you to be the expert. If you’re early in your career, this is the time to take it all in and learn as much as you can. Don’t be afraid to ask stupid questions. Your team will appreciate the fact that you want to understand as much as possible.
There’s nothing wrong with saying “I don’t know.” Lots of people don’t know the answers to lots of things. It doesn’t mean you’re bad at your job. What makes you bad at your job is insisting you have all the answers and refusing to admit you’re wrong. If you think you have all the answers, trust me, you don’t.
As Derek always says “Start at the start!” Start at the beginning. What is the big picture? Where does this problem fit in? Revisit the fundamentals and see if you’re missing something. Break the problem down into smaller chunks and see if you can solve the smaller problems individually. If all else fails, don’t be afraid to ask for help.
Nothing gives you confidence and motivation like doing something well. Too often we are our own worst critics. Too often we judge what we do isn’t as good as our peers. That’s mostly in our heads. I promise those wins are there, you just have to stop overlooking them. These will be obvious to a great mentor.
No matter the stage of your career, a mentor is invaluable. A good mentor will help you identify your true level of understanding of your industry. They should help you set goals, they should offer career guidance, they should be honest with their feedback and they should encourage you to grow. Remember that a great mentor will learn as much from you as you learn from them. Communities like ADPList.org and Black Valley are great places to start.
Do you think you don’t have enough experience to be a mentor? Think again. There is always someone with less experience than you who could benefit from your advice. Is this your first year out of school? Help someone still in college, or going through a boot camp. Are you in school? There’s probably someone in high school that is looking for advice on their next step. You might be surprised to see how much you realize you really do know when you become a mentor for someone else.
No one wins all the time. We all fail from time to time. It’s important to learn from your mistakes and keep moving forward. Remember that no one has it all figured out. Derek thinks you’re great.
The thing that I learned looking back on my many years in this industry is that no one has all the answers. It’s impossible to do this alone. Find a mentor, and pay it forward if you can. You’ve gotten this far for a reason, so keep doing what you’re doing. Keep your chin up. We think you’re great!
