Overview

What are the triggers?
Remember it's okay to be wrong
Overcome the Impostor syndrome

Impostor Syndrome is a psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their skills, talents, or accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a cheat. The term "impostor phenomenon" was introduced in an article published in 1978, entitled "The Impostor Phenomenon in High Achieving Women: Dynamics and Therapeutic Intervention" by Pauline R. Clance and Suzanne A. Imes. Further research showed that imposter syndrome occurs in both men and women.

In the tech world, this phenomenon is better known as "developer impostor syndrome" it is the impostor syndrome but for developers. This happens when the developer begins to doubt his ability to program, to solve the problems he faces in his daily work. If you've ever felt like this, know that you're not alone.

Indeed in a survey conducted by Blind, on a sample of 10,000 participants, they discovered that 58% of tech employees suffered from it. The answer to the question "could you ever defeat Impostor syndrome?" is obviously yes. You can overcome this feeling. In this article, we'll show that any developer can overcome this feeling but first, we'll talk about the triggers of impostor syndrome.

What are the triggers?

There isn't just one answer to this question. As developers, we sometimes encounter stressful situations that are mostly related to our professional or personal identity. Specific elements can cause developers to fall victim to impostor syndrome, such as:

New challenges
Developers who sometimes take on or receive a more important assignment than before may feel like this automatically sets them up for failure, challenging their experience and skills.
Work performance
The fear of not succeeding can cause a person to hold back and avoid striving for higher accomplishments, along with the fear of doing things wrong can affect their overall performance as a developer.
Reject Achievements
Bug fixing, writing documentation, mentoring, building software, building websites are activities a developer can do, but success can create a cycle of self-doubt among developers, even when the developer reaches a milestone, he doesn't recognize his achievements sometimes.
Social environment
Some developers sometimes compare the number of languages they master, the number of frameworks they master, the projects they have already had to work on, their success with those of their peers, paying more attention to the accomplishments of others than to their own.

Remember it's okay to be wrong

The point here is that no developer can know everything. The more you know about development means that you make different mistakes. You will stop making the mistakes you made as you learned, a language or a design pattern, but you will always uncover new things to make mistakes over! You will also occasionally forget a semi-colon or do something that you think should be reserved for newbies to develop, and that's ok. Remember, the developers fall forward to accomplish their projects. Coding is a journey, you will never be the best, but you always have to work to be the best.

Overcome the Impostor syndrome

Imposter syndrome manifests in some people differently, Dr. Valerie Young, author of The Secret Thoughts of Successful Women: Why Capable People Suffer from the Impostor Syndrome and How to Thrive in Spite of It, has identified five types of “impostors.”

The expert
He (or she) will not feel satisfied when finishing a task until he (or she) knows everything about the subject. The time spent searching for information can make it hard to complete tasks and projects.
The perfectionist
He (or she) experiences high levels of anxiety, doubt, and worry, especially when he (or she) sets extreme goals that he (or she) cannot achieve. A perfectionist will focus on areas where he (or she) could have done better rather than celebrating his accomplishments.
The natural genius
He (or she) masters many new skills quickly and easily, and he (or she) may feel ashamed and weak when faced with a goal that is too hard. Learning that everyone needs to struggle to achieve some goals may help.
The soloist
He (or she) prefers to work alone, fearing that asking for help will reveal incompetence.
Supermen” or “superwomen”
They push themselves to work harder than those around them to prove that they’re not impostors. They feel the need to succeed in all aspects of life at work, as parents, as partners and may feel stressed when not accomplishing something.

It is sad Imposter syndrome is not recognized as an official disorder by medicine, but people can seek help from a mental health professional. The following steps can help a developer manage and overcome feelings of inadequacy related to impostor syndrome.

Talk about it
Sharing feelings with or getting feedback from a trusted colleague, friends, or family member can help developers have a more realistic perspective on their abilities and competence.
Embrace it
The first step to dealing with developer impostor syndrome is to learn to embrace it, which means remembering and recognizing that development is a role that requires constant learning. Those suffering from developer impostor syndrome should remind themselves that it’s impossible to know every new tool, language, and so on as soon as they’re released. When you feel like a fake or an impostor because you don’t know something, don’t shy away. Instead, embrace the opportunity to learn something new. A good developer doesn’t know everything but is ready to learn new things when they become needed.
Keep track of your achievements
Developer impostor syndrome is caused by not recognizing your achievements and abilities and comparing yourself to other developers. To combat it, you need to keep track of your realizations, you can create a portfolio of all your successes, of your work, to grow each time you learn new technology, a new method.
Promote teamwork and camaraderie
Finally, encouraging teamwork and a relaxed atmosphere can also help appease the effects of developer impostor syndrome. When developers ask for help and opinions, it becomes evident to those with developer impostor syndrome that those they compare themselves to don’t know everything either, and that’s okay. So, create a culture that reinforces teamwork and collaboration. Plus, the sense of camaraderie can help to make those with developer impostor syndrome feel included and part of the team and less like an impostor.

Very well, dear reader (whether you are a man or a woman) thank you for reading until the end, see you soon in a future article.

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