Impostor Syndrome in tech

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Impostor Syndrome in tech (someone can do this talk better than me) @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 1

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Who's this clown? 2 » Infrastructure security at Etsy. » Operations engineer at Puppet. » Worked at some startups and some not so startups. » Owns a lot of black t-shirts. 2 https://twitter.com/skullmandible/status/411281851131523072 @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 2

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I work at Etsy Antisocial Construct Zine by EricSobelArt @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 3

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Impostor syndrome! @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 4

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Impostor syndrome is when high- achieving individuals are marked by an inability to internalise their accomplishments & a persistent fear of being exposed as a "fraud" — clinical psychologists Dr. Pauline R. Clance & Suzanne A. Imes @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 5

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Am I even qualified to give this talk? — Me, earlier today, proving that I probably am. @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 6

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"But everyone has this, no?" @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 7

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OCD vs. Actually liking things to be tidy @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 8

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Exemplum! @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 9

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@benjammingh for HumanOps SF 10

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"I am going to be discovered and fired..." — Me, then. @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 11

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THIS IS FUCKING DEPRESSING @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 12

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It makes it real hard to do good work @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 13

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Which then just perpetuates itself @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 14

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Which leads to burnout... @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 15

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@benjammingh for HumanOps SF 16

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Reality vs. Perception of others From https://billwatt.org/the-imposter-syndrome/ @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 17

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STORY TIME @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 18

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@benjammingh for HumanOps SF 19

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HOLY SHIT WE HAVE DIFFERENCE EXPERIENCES @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 20

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(Best (worst) stock photo ever?) @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 21

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Impostor syndrome can be a sign that you're about to learn awesome things. @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 22

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It can be a sign you have a lot of knowledge to share too! @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 23

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Straw poll How many people have you heard of getting fired due to knowing nothing? How many people have you heard of having impostor syndrome? @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 24

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So why do our brains make this trade off? @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 25

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Ego? @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 26

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Did I mention I work in security? @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 27

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"well don't think of yourself as an imposter, think of yourself as not a psychopath." — Scott Roberts @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 28

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"One of the best things I've done for myself lately: created a doc where I copy-paste compliments I've gotten. Great for low days. Try it." — Molly Clare @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 29

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What can you do as an organisation? @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 30

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Acknowledge it! @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 31

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It's okay to say what's okay @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 32

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Obligatory reference to blameless postmortems as I'm contractually bound to by Etsy @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 33

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Praise others, because they may feel this too. @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 34

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Tip for praise: Don't personalize. For the same reason you wouldn't say "You're a dumbass," don't just say "You're a genius." — @candor 5 5 Blameless praise! from Slack's great article on giving feedback @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 35

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Stop the nerd snipe, even if it's good intentioned @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 36

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Your culture often affects people in seemingly invisible ways @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 37

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Just don't go too far (; Dunning–Kruger effect @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 38

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Let's hope I'm on track for time! » be understand to people, this is hard. » be kind to yourself, even if you're a jerk like me. » seek help if you can (friends, therapists, coworkers) » Query Annotations (Hi Jenni!) (: @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 39

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This affects people differently » Confidence sadly often comes with privilege. » As does arrogance. @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 40

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Mess of links that will be useful when I tweet the URL to this slidedeck » Impostor Syndrome in DFIR - Scott Roberts fantastic piece on the topic. » Allowed To Apply - blog on telling yourself you can do this. » How to get a promotion » Blue Hackers - site on mental health in the tech community and how to help. » Tall Poppy Syndrome - wikipedia page on cutting people down @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 41

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Ta » My blog post on the subject » Twidder: @benjammingh » LinkedIn: lnkdin.me/p/benyeah » SpeakerDeck: speakerdeck.com/barnbarn » Etsy: Careers <--- CodeAsCraft <--- our blog @benjammingh for HumanOps SF 42