How to Break Free from the Imposter Syndrome Zone

If you haven't already heard about it, I'd like to introduce you to one of my favorite topics of discussion: Imposter Syndrome.

Before we get there, however, let's discuss a very interesting study that correlates to the topic at hand: Dunning Kruger. I know what you're thinking, Is that Freddy Kruger's distant cousin?

Not at all. The Dunning-Kruger Effect is an explanation of why some people tend to overestimate their skills.

"Coined in 1999 by then-Cornell psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger, the eponymous Dunning-Kruger Effect is a cognitive bias whereby people who are incompetent at something are unable to recognize their own incompetence. And not only do they fail to recognize their incompetence, they’re also likely to feel confident that they actually are competent. " (Forbes)

Crazy Right? Here's what David Dunning had to say on the topic:

"In 1999, in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, my then graduate student Justin Kruger and I published a paper that documented how, in many areas of life, incompetent people do not recognize — scratch that, cannot recognize — just how incompetent they are, a phenomenon that has come to be known as the Dunning-Kruger effect.

Logic itself almost demands this lack of self-insight: For poor performers to recognize their ineptitude would require them to possess the very expertise they lack. To know how skilled or unskilled you are at using the rules of grammar, for instance, you must have a good working knowledge of those rules, an impossibility among the incompetent. Poor performers — and we are all poor performers at some things — fail to see the flaws in their thinking or the answers they lack.

What’s curious is that, in many cases, incompetence does not leave people disoriented, perplexed, or cautious. Instead, the incompetent are often blessed with an inappropriate confidence, buoyed by something that feels to them like knowledge."

"What’s curious is that, in many cases, incompetence does not leave people disoriented, perplexed, or cautious. Instead, the incompetent are often blessed with an inappropriate confidence, buoyed by something that feels to them like knowledge."

Let that last sentence soak in: Confidence FEELS LIKE knowledge.

In my opinion, that simple statement explains so much about the world. (Especially within the context of corporate America).

THE DUNNING KRUGER EFFECT, ILLUSTRATED

I'm a visual storyteller. So if you're like me, an illustration of something will really help me understand a concept. Let's take a look at some illustrations.

1. Introduction of a new subject-matter area

Notice how this phenomenon happens and think about the people you work with every day and where they fit on the graph. When you are first introduced to a complex topic or a difficult task, it seems daunting and overwhelming. 

You start by scratching your head and saying, "Huh? What's this?!"

2. Acquisition of knowledge and accompanying confidence

However, as you learn a little on the subject, you build confidence. You pick up some knowledge and your experience grows, making you think, "Pshh, I GOT THIS!"

Some people build so much confidence in these early stages of learning, that they stick at the plateau. Don't be one of these people. 

These are the guys who will mansplain (or ladysplain) their way through a meeting without giving anyone else a chance to speak. They are the co-workers who start talking and everyone's eyes immediately roll.

I've been in meetings before when I was talked down to about the way "Canonical Links" work in regard to Search Engine Optimization (SEO). I've actually done a lot of research in this area, and the person knew just enough vocabulary to sound smart.

This person would be at the peak of the confidence axis, but note that they aren't very far along on the Experience (or knowledge) spectrum.

3. Humbling realization of the vast breadth of the subject-matter

To progress from this point, it's important to do some introspection. Doing an assessment of how much you know on a topic and comparing it to the overall amount of information and knowledge on a given topic is the first step to growing. You have to have that realization of, "Wait, this is tricky!"

That said, once you realize how difficult and complex the subject, topic, or task is, you start to dip down in confidence a bit.

From then on, your experience will grow, but your confidence will continue to shrink. 

Let's pause for a moment and consider what could be the cause of this. Why does our confidence shrink as we become more knowledgeable and experienced in a subject? 

The Circumference of Self-Doubt - The More You Know, The More You Doubt

I try to explain it with a concept I call the "Circumference of Self-Doubt". You see, the longer you work on something, the more you are able to assess the gap between that which you know and that which you do not know. This perimeter between the known and unknown can be measured, and as it grows, your self-doubt grows as well. I actually discussed this topic at length with some colleagues I use to work with.

Watch that video here: Lightboard Friday Episode 1 - Dataholics Anonymous Pt I

The basic takeaway is this: The more you know, the more you realize how much there is that you don't know and potentially never will know. This can be detrimental to your confidence and make us feel like imposters.

4. Enter The Imposter Syndrome Zone - Where Most of Us Live and Thrive

The result is a lot of perfectly competent, knowledgeable, and experience people running around afraid someone will "figure them out". As people learn more on a topic, they'll slowly dip into what I call the "Imposter Syndrome Zone". It's at this point that some people even give up, change roles, or change fields. Some people feel like such phonies or frauds, that they feel anxious going to work every day. These are the people who hit rock bottom in terms of confidence and say, "I'll never get this!"

If you're like me and the people that I actually enjoy working with, you'll push forward. You'll continue researching and learning and growing your skills and experience. 

5. ESCAPE FROM THE IMPOSTER SYNDROME ZONE

You know that old saying, "if you can't do, teach"? (and if you can't teach, teach gym). Well there is some merit to it. To effectively teach someone else something, you have to learn it yourself. You may not be able to do it effectively yourself, but you can certainly learn it and teach others how to do it.

The crazy thing about it is that this learning/teaching/doing process is exactly what I've found to be the easiest way to escape the Imposter Syndrome Zone and graduate to Subject-Matter Expert.

I can almost guarantee you that if you try to teach someone something that you are in the process of learning, they will get a lot out of it, but you'll get even more from the exchange. It's one of the most rewarding experiences I've had in my career and a big part of why I enjoyed my time in management.

So there you have it, folks. The full lifecycle of becoming an expert, through the thrilling peaks of confidence, to the dulling lows of self-doubt.

Abell's Imposter Syndrome Lifecycle

1. Introduction of a new subject matter
2. Acquisition of knowledge and accompanying confidence boost
3. A Humbling Realization of the vast breadth of the subject matter
4. Enter the imposter zone and either give up or continue learning
5. Escape from the imposter zone and become a true subject-matter expert

The PITA (Fake it Til You Make it Zone)

At the point when you are incredibly knowledgeable on a subject and can rightly consider yourself an expert there's something I'd like to point out. No matter how much of an expert you are, your confidence will never be as high as those co-workers going around posing or "faking it 'til they make it." 

No matter how much of an expert you are, your confidence will never be as high as those co-workers going around posing or "faking it 'til they make it". 

But it could be argued that anyone whose confidence point falls on the chart above the horizontal blue line here is sitting on the "Pinnacle of Ignorant, Thoughtless Arrogance" because they've exceeded rational confidence and become an extremely arrogant PITA. 

A Warning in Dealing with the PITA

Be careful that you don't try to use the strategy of teaching as you go on these people sitting on the Pinnacle of Thoughtless Arrogance. It will make them extremely uncomfortable to learn that knowledge they are unaware of exists in a subject where they already purport to know everything.

They will probably even try to make you look bad because you are challenging their authority or their status as a "Subject-Matter Expert" (which they wholeheartedly think they are).

Your time is better spent teaching your "Imposter Syndrome Zone" buddies. Set up some time to present what you're learning to your willing peers. You'll all grow and learn together.

What do you think? Are you ready to use the teach, learn, grow method yourself? I'd love to hear about it in the comments below.