Techies Must Shake Their Impostor Syndrome Regarding the Human Work
Duena Blomstrom
Author | Keynote Speaker | Podcaster |Digital Transformation & Organizational Psychology Expert | Creator of Emotional Banking?, NeuroSpicy@Work & HumanDebt? | Co-Founder of PeopleNotTech? | AuADHD
My extreme admiration for techies in general and "agilists" in particular, is no surprise. I’ve written about Technology and Agile Superheroes for years now and I am firmly of the belief that it is technologists that our hopes for better work culture and less HumanDebt rest with, and not anyone else in the business.?
A few of the articles that speak to my stance:
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That said, beautifully courageous as these Superhero techies are, there is one area where their modesty extremely holds them back and that happens to be precisely the bit where we need them the most: the human work.?
Over the last couple of years, in our crusade to change the world of work and have it recenter around happy people and psychologically safe teams that better themselves, we had the occasion to look at the masses of HumanDebt we all accrued in multiple ways. One of the things that is hardest to reconcile is the existence of the “human work resistance” at the team or individual level.?
We all fully expect that same resistance at the organisational level, it is an easy common cause to stand up against, but what of the places where the organisation does have the long-awaited epiphany and starts to throw time and true support and resources at the human debt by asking their people to do the human work and then it all halts as it hits the wall of team or individual level resistance? How come that if the enterprise actually understands the need and finally does all it can to help better our work lives, we still have teams, individuals, leaders and even some of these Superheroes digging their heels and resisting the work?
For the most part nowadays the resistance can be traced back to the current state of mental health crisis and the period of mental and physical burnout we are traversing. No one will gleefully apply themselves to thinking of others, interpreting emotions or changing behaviours when they can barely make it through the day.?
But beyond this immediate and acute crisis of energy and purpose, techies are also the protagonists of a crisis of EQ. And while this isn’t unique to technologists and the crisis is universal at every level and in every industry, it is undoubtedly made worst by a much more pronounced impostor syndrome.
The “What do I know about these fluffy human topics? I’m an engineer/developer/security guy/project manager/CTO/ops person/etc?” undertone.?
I put it to us that this immensely self-limiting belief is holding the entire world of knowledge work back. We need every techie to shake this asap. We need them to have no qualms about getting involved “in the fluffy stuff” - observe, debate, and share. We need everyone to stop wasting time doubting themselves and instead put it to good use detailing what they noticed. What they saw happening in the team dynamic when X happens; what they observed their colleagues do when Y was needed; what the emotional undertone was in the retro; what the general sense was in the planning; what they inferred and presumed they were feeling or thinking. What makes for good outcomes collaboration-wise, what is needed communication-wise, what true openness brings, and what kind of bravery is required? We need every techie who spends time mired in self-doubt on these topics that they believe are “above their pay grade” to stop letting that unexamined thought hold them back and instead get right to the core of every human issue.
Make assumptions and guess how they feel themselves and how it likely makes others feel. Presume. Intimate. Analyse behaviours and try and work out how they reflect in the project or even the sprint itself. Infer how the team must be feeling or reacting from their results, etc. Be the backseat fairground psychologist they fear they would sound like and take on that role fearlessly because here’s the truth: techies are the only authority in understanding human dynamics in the context of technology work and agility and that is such a unique sense of circumstances that no HR diploma can replicate.?
The lived experience of what it means to be human in technology is what techies are uniquely placed to analyse so they have to shake the impostor syndrome and do so before anyone else in the enterprise will.?
So much of what makes up this impostor syndrome is sheer misconception. No, it doesn’t take a PhD; no, the body of knowledge that would enable a higher EQ is not at all extensive and is in fact eminently easy to access and apply; no it isn’t “none of your business”; no it isn’t something only trained coaches can do; no it isn’t “HR’s job”. Or not anymore.?
This doesn’t extend to those of us who are happy to let this impostor syndrome regarding the human topics and the human work simply overpower them into inaction because they are really just using it as an excuse to not have to get involved, because, for other reasons, they simply can not care less. So if you are checked out, have quietly semi-quit, and can’t find your mojo where you intensely care about the job and your teammates then you’re less likely to want to challenge your misconceptions regarding how much you do or do not know when it comes to your emotions and behaviours and those of your colleagues.?
But if you’re “still in there” and care at all about yourself but more importantly, others, get vocal about the human work. Bring what you know and feel and learned and ask others to bring theirs then be who you really are - the best people work specialist there is.?
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At?PeopleNotTech?we make?software?that measures and improves Psychological Safety in teams, come see a DEMO.
“Nothing other than sustained, habitual, EQed people work at the team level aka “the human work” done BY THE TEAM will improve any organisation’s level of Psychological Safety and therefore drop their levels of HumanDebt?.”
To order the "People Before Tech: The Importance of Psychological Safety and Teamwork in the Digital Age" book go to this Amazon?link
AGILE PROJECT MANAGER
2 年Brilliantly written. You hit the bullseye here. I have experienced burn out myself and seen many many good colleagues get burnt out because the corporate culture used them up and spat them out. The stygma of "Burn Out" is a terrible thing too. Once you have a burn out you are forever regarded as 'damaged goods' and your career prospects are finished. I have seen it happen too many times. Well done for raising awareness on this issue.