This document discusses impostor syndrome, which is a psychological phenomenon where people doubt their accomplishments and believe they do not deserve their success. It defines impostor syndrome as when people are unable to internalize their accomplishments and remain convinced they are frauds, dismissing evidence of competence as luck or deceiving others. The document explores why impostor syndrome matters, how to recognize it in oneself or others, ways to help those with impostor syndrome, and creating an environment to reduce its effects through recognition, feedback, and allowing failure without competition.

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Impostor syndrome
czyli dlaczego na blogu i w GitHubie mam pusto
02.02.2017 – TOAST Android Developers Meetup

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Contact information
@michalgruca
michal.gruca@gmail.com
www.rits.pl

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About me

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About me

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Let us make it clear

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DEFINITION
IMPOSTOR SYNDROME

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„The impostor syndrome, sometimes called impostor phenomenon or fraud syndrome, is a
psychological phenomenon in which people are unable to internalize their accomplishments.
Despite external evidence of their competence, those with the syndrome remain convinced that
they are frauds and do not deserve the success they have achieved. Proof of success is dismissed
as luck, timing, or as a result of deceiving others into thinking they are more intelligent and
competent than they believe themselves to be.”
Definitions

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• … thought that you don’t deserve what you’ve
got?
• … was afraid that people will discover that you
are not worthy of your success
• … put on luck things you’ve done?
• … assumed that you’ve been able to trick others
in thinking that you’re worth more than in reality
• … think that other overrate your work?
Have you ever …
By Pyrlo

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• Do you have to put a different face for people
• Act in front of others
• You must take a pose at work
– Or at home
• You’re afraid to tell what you really think
Personality split?
By Geralt

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Then maybe you’ve got
• Co workers
• Friends
• Family
• Children

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„The impostor syndrome, sometimes called impostor phenomenon or fraud syndrome, is a
psychological phenomenon in which people are unable to internalize their accomplishments.
Despite external evidence of their competence, those with the syndrome remain convinced that
they are frauds and do not deserve the success they have achieved. Proof of success is dismissed
as luck, timing, or as a result of deceiving others into thinking they are more intelligent and
competent than they believe themselves to be.”
Definitions
„The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias which can manifest in one of two ways:
Unskilled individuals suffer from illusory superiority, mistakenly rating their ability much higher than
is accurate. This bias is attributed to a metacognitive inability of the unskilled to recognize their
ineptitude.”

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WHY DOES IT MATTER
IMPOSTOR SYNDROME

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• It may have influence over someone else work
• Willingness to test new technologies/languages/frameworks/techniques
• Number of ideas raised
• Number of questions asked
• One may not ask for help
• It may have influence over someone career
Impostor Syndrome :: Why does it matter to me

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HOW TO LIVE
WHAT NEXT
GOT IT :O (OR SOMEONE CLOSE HAS IT)
Impostor syndrome

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WHY US
IMPOSTOR SYNDROME

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Trolls!

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Knowledge

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• Allow yourself (and others) to fail
• Don’t build too competitive environment
for your team
• Think how your perfectionism works for
others?
• How does hierarchy works for people
• …
Stress :: Environment

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SELFHELP
IMPOSTOR SYNDROME

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How to help Impostor:
• Give honest feedback to others
• Learn to say “Thank you”
• Talk about Impostor Syndrome
I’m impostor, what to do?
• Keep good feedback for worse days
• Kill your heroes
• Learn how to forget about failures
• Fake it till you make it
Selfhelp
By Elitrie -> Wikipedia

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https://twitter.com/royvanrijn/status/816559706982535168

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Curse of knowledge

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Teach others
By Doctormo

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Start small
Interns Kids

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Teach Others :: Tools

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RECOGNITION
OTHER

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• Small things (recognition box)
• Celebrate together
• Rewards
– Team
– Company
Recognition

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I love your feedback! 
@michalgruca
michal.gruca@gmail.com
www.rits.pl