Scared Imposter Syndrome
“Scared imposter syndrome” is a phrase used by a good friend of mine, someone with whom I discuss entrepreneurship from time to time.
Imposter syndrome is a well-known phenomenon; it involves doubting one’s own capabilities and skills and feeling that one’s successes are not earned. It can occur even when it doesn’t make sense by any rational standard.
While the term imposter syndrome may be a familiar one, it doesn’t capture the very personal gut-wrenching feeling you have when it’s happening to you. That’s why I like the phrase “scared imposter syndrome.”
First Time Leading
You’ve started a company with your technology. Possibly you haven’t had a lot of experience running a company or heading up major projects.
It can be daunting.
I was guest lecturing once in a class at the University of California at Santa Barbara, and had opened it up to questions and answers. One student asked me to describe some really stressful work experience I’d had.
I thought for a minute and described the following:
I was in my mid-twenties and fresh out of grad school at MIT. I was working for the first startup of my career, a company called Abt Associates Inc.
The CEO was on a long trip to somewhere in Asia—Kashmir, as I recall. We had one big project, which I had helped win, and I was left in charge of it.
I called the first project meeting and was assigning tasks to the other team members. As I was doing this, I was looking at them thinking, “They’re all at least five years older than I am. They all have more experience in the workplace than I do. What if they just say, ‘No. I won’t do that’?”
Since then, I’ve read an excellent novel by George MacDonald Fraser, The General Danced at Dawn. Early in the book, he’s a brand-new first lieutenant who is assigned to a veteran platoon in a Scottish regiment:
“In later years he may command armies or govern great territories, but he will never feel again the same power-drunk humility of the moment when he takes over his platoon. It is elating and terrifying—mostly terrifying... Suppose that ugly one in the front rank suddenly says, ‘No, I will not slope arms for you, or shave in the morning, or die for King and country?’ The subaltern feels panic stealing over him...”
It Comes With the Territory
I wanted to write this blog to let you know that if you’re in the business of commercializing your technology, you’ll probably encounter many moments like this. It goes with the territory of creating something new.
You’re facing the challenges of making something work, or scaling up something that’s never been done before. It’s hard and it’s uncertain.
In the early days of Abt Associates, when we were pursuing difficult goals in new areas, there was a saying:
“Ignorance is no bar to action.”
That probably sounds deeply irresponsible, but I like to think it was an expression of confidence in our ability to tackle and solve tough problems. We were young and smart and hard-working.
In fact, we were better at the research and consulting we did than our competitors.
The Takeaway
You may find yourself feeling inadequate and scared, but if you are the expert in your technology, you’ve done your customer discovery, and you’ve worked hard to make your technology useful, then move forward with confidence.
— Peter Miller
There are times when fear is a signal, like standing at the top of a double black diamond or being hustled at a pool hall. But when you’re working in your own field, with your own hard-earned knowledge, it’s okay to trust yourself.
Don’t let scared imposter syndrome stop you.