Is it my Imposter Syndrome or is it our Team Culture?

From Individual Problem to Team Culture Issue #

The term [Imposter Syndrom] pathologizes the insecurities regarding ones capabilities […] to a mental illness to be cured, not as a reaction to a lack of recognition, missing role models, absence of promotion opportunities, discrimination in the workplace.

Sophia Fritz, Toxische Weiblichkeit (Toxic Femininity), my translation

Reading this changed my perspective on Imposter Syndrome, moved it from something that everyone has to deal with on their own, to something that is influenced by the team culture and environment. Changing team culture will not solve systemic issues, nor will it prevent any feeling of insecurity. The point is that it is not just a personal task to build confidence, but a shared team responsibility to create an environment where every team member feels recognised, authentic, and competent.

Looking into Scientific Literature #

Following the Hierarchy of Evidence, I looked for Meta-Studies and Systematic Reviews on the topic of Imposter Syndrome. I would recommend “Workplace Imposter Thoughts, Imposter Feelings, and Impostorism”¹; other papers focused only on the pathology of Imposter Syndrome in individuals ², or did not as dive deep into the comparison of results of multiple studies³.

History, Definition, and Symptoms #

“Imposter Syndrome” is a very modern term, that got more popular since around 2015.

Throughout the years the term is defined by the cognitive belief that others overestimate one’s competence at work. But it also includes feeling of intellectual incompetence, concerns about being exposed as a fraud, or feeling unauthentic. There are multiple hypotheses about the cause of Imposter Syndrome³:

• Perfectionism and Fear of Failure: Perfectionism, especially socially defined perfectionism makes individuals highly sensitive to perceived failures. This can cause a black-and-white thinking of anything that is not a perfect success must be a failure.
• Social Comparison Theory: People define their own worth based on how they compare to others, Imposter feelings are a result of comparing one with high-achieving peers - even if the comparison is biased like comparing new joiners with long term employees.
• Cognitive Dissonance Theory: If people have the belief that they are not competent, any success will create a dissonance that is resolved by downplaying the success or attributing it to external factors.

Imposter Syndrome is linked to lowered job satisfaction, higher stress levels, even depression and burnout. Although, some studies found the imposter phenomenon was a critical driver of work productivity of management consultants or working hours of students.¹

Trait or State? #

There are studies that link Imposter Syndrome to situational factors - starting a new role that differs from experiences, working after career breaks, or as a result of competitions.

Still, Imposter Syndrome is often described as a personality trait, focusing on correlations with low self-esteem, neuroticism, and perfectionism. Multiple studies found higher prevalence among woman and other marginalized groups. Not all studies find such correlations though, especially when comparing people within the same role (the surveyed roles were leadership roles or surgeons); while students and post-graduates showed the highest gender disparity¹.

To conclude, the beliefs that feed Imposter Syndrome can come both from individuals themselves or the situations they are in. In either cases, it is not a trait that someone has throughout their life or never at all - but a state that can change over time and with context, and for which some people might be more susceptible.

Team Culture Patterns and Anti-Patterns to reduce Imposter Feelings #

During my research I learned that there are different types of psychotherapy. Depth psychology focuses on the unconscious and experiences to resolve current problems; Cognitive Behavioral Therapy focuses on changing the current beliefs and behaviors to resolve current problems; and (quite new) Systemic Therapy focuses on the interactions between people and their environment to resolve current problems. Systemic Therapy aims to recognize that one cannot change people or systems, and to find creative nudges to which helps the system to change themselves.

Regardless of the question of Trait vs State, in a team context one can always assume that team culture is easier to change than personality traits of individuals. Therefore, I want to share some nudges that can help to create a team culture that reduces feelings of inadequacy and fosters feelings of belonging and competence.

A feeling of belonging #

Celebrate Learning new Things in a Safe Environment Social rules that are stated explicitly and are valued by the whole team are a basis for creating a safe environment. A good example are the Social Rules of the Recurse Center ⁴

• “No feigning surprise” - don’t act surprised when someone does not know something
• “No well actually’s” - don’t correct someone if the correction does not benefit the conversation
• “No Backseat Driving” - don’t give unsolicited advice on how to solve a problem you are not working on
• “No Subtle -isms” - no sexism, racism, ableism, ageism, or any other -ism that can make people feel excluded

Anticipate New Joiners “You are here because we want you to be here and believe in you!” This feeling that is easier for teams to spread that have the autonomy to select new members, but still possible in more hierarchical structures. Something I mostly observed for new joiners, who are well known within a community, but a habit that I would wish every new joiner: In the first days showing excitement about the new team member joining, show interested in past projects, skills, and experiences. Maybe the manager already provided some information, a blog, a past project, or open source contributions. This helps to create a feeling of being wanted and welcomed for the skills and experiences.

Show a Shared Vision Belonging to a team means working on a shared goal. A critical part of that is also to be able to connect the current tasks to the big picture. There will be “high impact” tasks that are directly contributing, and they should be shared in the team. On the other hand, the “low impact” tasks require a context to connect them to the vision.

Have a Diverse Team and Diverse Leaders. Missing representation can lead to feelings of not belonging. If there is no one that resembles your background / culture / gender in the hierarchy above you, it is harder to believe that you can also reach such a position. Diverse teams also help to create an environment where different perspectives are valued, and different communication and working styles are accepted.⁵

Asking for Help is Normalized Asking for pairing should not just be done by the team members who are looking for guidance - but also by team members who want to share knowledge. It does not require a “I need some help here”, it can be “Is someone up for discussions on the technical approach?” or “Would be great to share knowledge about this domain”. Any habit that is only perceived from juniors or new joiners will create a hesitation to pursue such habit - this can be asking for help, seeking validation, or admitting mistakes. ⁶

Make it easy to Achieve #

Enable Achievements Outside of Code Software Development is more than coding - Shadowing Users, Writing documentation, improving processes, code reviews, sharing knowledge … Such tasks should be recognized as valuable contributions to the team vision, should be mentioned, should be celebrated.

Let Ticket Refinements Happen in the Team A refinement can be a safe space to ask questions, clarify the business need behind the ticket, and discuss possible implementations. This can easily change the perspective from a ticket that sounds “too complex or to hard for me” to a ticket for which “I know the solution and the pitfalls to avoid”. It is easier to pick up such a refined ticket, easier to start working without big code investigation, it instantly provides a feeling of competence for the task.

There Should be Easy Tickets An easy ticket should include all necessary information, enable one immediately to start coding, and be achievable in less than a day. This is important for new joiners, as distraction from highly complex tasks, or on dull afternoons. Never will all tickets be easy - but there should always be some easy tickets available to pick from.

Tickets Should Have a Definition of Done. Having to go over and over a task because the result is unclear or requires multiple feedback loops is a common source of frustration and self-doubt. Why didn’t I got it right the first time? Why don’t I understand what is expected from me? A clear definition of done helps to avoid such situations and also helps to estimate ones resources required to finish the task.

Have a Culture of Recognition - not Competition #

Love Power Sharing - Hate Power Trips In this context “Power” does not mean “authority”, Power means having a privilege another person is lacking - not having Imposter feelings, knowing the codebase well, not being part of a marginalized group… A team member that calls out the achievements of others, shows vulnerability, shares knowledge altruistically, is open for cooperation / pairing shares power⁷.

Post only Team Metrics - Never Individual Metrics Any metric that compares the performance of individuals will be exploited by team members who are driven by competition and will foster a feeling of inadequacy in those who are not. No metric will adequately reflect productivity. It cannot capture learning curves, mentoring efforts, or the contributions in discussions, documentations, mentoring, code reviews, or team culture. AFrom looking up “the number of PRs per month for each team member” to weekly postings of “who closed the most tickets” - any of those metrics should be handed with care.

Everyone Should be Part of Celebration Celebrating team successes helps to create a feeling of belonging and achievement - but only if everyone is included. Meaning, on that celebration slide every team member should find at least one point they connect to their contributions. This does not mean that everyone has to be named (I personally would even discourage that), but that everyone can find their part in the success story.

Mentoring Mentors or Buddies can provide constant guidance and affirmation. They can help to navigate the new environment, provide technical guidance, and be a safe space to discuss insecurities. ³ They can ask coaching questions to help overcome self-doubt and imposter feelings.

Personal Strategies #

There are also personal strategies to deal with Imposter feelings. While the papers showed the success of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, that is a very personal decision to pursue, and nothing I have any qualification to comment on.

I want to provide some questions and reflections that can help to better understand ones own feelings

• Observe When do I have feelings of Incompetence? Are there specific situations that trigger these feelings? When am I not feeling this way? What do I feel when achieving something, and what if I fail?
• Question Believes Was there ever a person stating that I lack a skill or trait, or is it my interpretation of the situation? If the latter, which situations trigger this thought? What beliefs do I have about my own competence? If I allow Myself to be curious about these beliefs, where do they come from?
• Investigate Alternatives How do I define Success and Competence? Do I like my definition? Are there other team members struggling with similar issues? Can I talk to them about it?
• What can Help? What does help I with these feelings? How can I ground Myself in moments of insecurity, and remind Myself of my skills and achievements? Can I do a training that helps me to get more confident in the skill I feel lacking?

Conclusion #

Imposter Syndrome was and is a companion in my career, but it’s strength and impact is highly influenced by the team culture I am in. I worked at companies where I did felt valuable and competent after a few days, others in which I was struggling with feelings of inadequacy for months. I worked in teams where a belonging and communication was a high priority, and other where it wasn’t. I had managers who emphasized my growth and opportunities, and others who only cared about results and numbers of whatever metric they valued.

I am striving to create a culture in my team in which Imposter Feelings are acknowledged and quickly replaced by feelings of belonging and value.

Happy Coding Communicating :)