While a lot of devs continue to go to college for computer science, more and more are teaching themselves, and in Agile, knowledge, not degrees is what matters.
Join the DZone community and get the full member experience. A lot of you are brilliant, and you don’t know it. It saddens me to see such wasted potential in those that think they are not good enough but in fact are amazing and often 10 times better than those that think highly of themselves. These people, not all of them, but some, I feel suffer from imposter syndrome. I will do my best to explain my experiences with this mental state of mind and how I’m currently battling with it. Once you understand what imposter syndrome means, and read a real-life example, I hope you get some mental clarity. Once you see what I’m talking about you will understand the importance of taking action instead of planning. This is the only cure for “imposter syndrome.” Allow me to explain. By its very definition, it is a concept describing high-achieving individuals who are marked by an inability to internalize their accomplishments and a persistent fear of being exposed as a “fraud.” Let me start with my personal experience. I know I’m good at what I do. But oftentimes, I get the fear that I’m not as good as the teacher or that I should not do it because it’s already been done. I believe this has been established since I have been on my own. I know I am good enough, and I know I can get it done. But the feeling that I don’t deserve what I have persists. Learning in isolation and being self-taught leaves you (typically) to hold yourself accountable. Whereas in college and other team-based learning environments, you have a team or classmates to compare and be held accountable against. The lack of accountability while learning (no bad grades here) sets an unvalidated tone in our society. You didn’t go to school, why should you be trusted? Other forms of validation are also, in my opinion, critical to our success, but understanding which ones to seek makes the difference.
