Impostor syndrome is common within the technical world but it's not well defined and difficult to identify. My talk goes into detail around defining it, identifying it, and overcoming it. We can work together as a community to use common frameworks, like OODA, to have a better approach to social situations.

1. Be an inspiration, not an impostor
Texas Linux Fest 2015 - Major Hayden, Rackspace
Flickr: mckaysavage

2. A bit about me
(and Rackspace)

5. Billy Hathorn CC-BY-SA 3.0

6. Major Hayden
Principal Architect at Rackspace
Fedora Security Team
Package maintainer
Fedora Planet blogger
Former board member
Ambassador
Ansible
Python
OpenStack
Xen/KVM/Containers
Information Security

9. icanhazip.com
icanhazptr.com
icanhaztrace.com
icanhazproxy.com
icanhazepoch.com
icanhaztraceroute.com

10. Impostor Syndrome:
1. Define it
2. Identify it
3. Overcome it

11. Special Note:
I’m not a licensed
health care professional.
If you’re suffering from mental health issues,
reach out to a health care provider -- seriously.
Help is always available. Talk to someone.
You can talk to me anytime.

12. What is impostor syndrome?

13. It all started with a security incident.

14. Don’t write emails when you’re angry.

15. Impromptu calendar invitation
from the CSO.
I’m totally fired.

16. Now I’m working
in an entirely new world.

17. Be careful what you ask for.

18. Impromptu calendar invitation
from the CSO.
Again.

19. “What do you call people
who think they’re the best,
but they’re actually not?”

20. “What do you call people
who think they’re the worst,
but they’re actually the best?”

21. “The same thing.”

22. How do we define
impostor syndrome?

23. Wikipedia calls it a
“psychological phenomenon.”

25. “Any moment, someone’s going to
find out I’m a total fraud,
and that I don’t deserve
any of what I’ve achieved.”
-- Emma Watson

26. Let’s put it in context.
Impostor syndrome
is one variety of
cognitive bias.

27. A cognitive bias is a
pattern of deviation in judgment,
whereby inferences about
other people and situations may be
drawn in an illogical fashion.
(Thanks, Wikipedia)

28. In other words,
impostor syndrome happens
when you often think
you aren’t competent,
even when you really are.
Our brains can’t always be logical.

29. What’s the opposite
of impostor syndrome?
Dunning-Kruger Effect

30. Photo credit: Bob Adams via Wikimedia Commons
“Hey, I’ve flown these a few times.”

31. Photo credit: US Air Force (public domain)
“I could fly this one right now!”

32. Where is the happy medium?

33. Dunning-Kruger Effect
“Fake it ‘til you make it”
Just right
Unsure
Impostor syndrome
Safe
zone
Cognitive Bias Spectrum

34. “Fake it ‘til you make it”
is when your confidence
temporarily outweighs
your competence.
Eventually, your competence
must catch up.

35. When you’re unsure,
you may need
temporary support
to regain your confidence.
Eventually, your confidence
must catch up.

36. Being humble is
something entirely different.
“True humility is not
thinking less of yourself;
it is thinking of yourself less.”
--C.S. Lewis

37. Leaders and managers
depend on you
for an accurate self-assessment
of your competence.

38. What happens if your self-
assessment isn’t accurate?

40. Photo credit: US Army / Michigan National Guard

41. The same goes for businesses and
open source communities.
If we don’t know
what people can do,
we will never know
where we can go.
Flickr: jeffwilcox

42. We can crush
impostor syndrome
with OODA.

43. Colonel
John Richard Boyd,
United States Air Force
Photo credit: United State Air Force (public domain)

44. By Patrick Edwin Moran (Own work) CC BY 3.0

45. OODA Loop
Observe
Orient
Decide
Act

46. Observe
Watch body language of others
when you talk.
Write down your opinions and thoughts
and share them with people you trust.
Get direct feedback
from peers and leaders.

47. Orient
Quantify your cognitive bias
based on feedback and your experience
Try to bring your
self-assessed competence in line
with your actual competence.
This is the most critical step.

48. Decide
Choose what you’re going to do
and how you will do it.
Don’t go back on your decision
once you make it.
This is the point of no return.

49. Act
Put your decision into action
and don’t look back.
This is “go time”.
Take the feedback you get
and funnel it back into the OODA loop
for the next challenging situation.

50. OODA Loop
Observe
Orient
Decide
Act

51. Go through the OODA loop
without thinking about anyone
other than yourself.

52. “Wherever you are in life with whatever you’
re doing – you’re going to be ahead of some
and behind others. That’s okay. Own where
you are. Take time to embrace and celebrate
that. Continue moving forward.
And never compare your beginning to
someone else’s middle.”
-- Matt Cheuvront (livewithoutpants.com)

53. Thank you!
majorhayden
major.hayden@rackspace.com
major.io