
Confidence Through Feedback, or Why Imposter Syndrome Is the Wrong Metaphor - nissimk
http://blog.bethcodes.com/confidence-through-feedback
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nissimk
Dealing with insecurity is very challenging and people approach it in
different ways. This evidence based approach to improving confidence within a
team using code review feedback and communication sound very good. I'd like to
hear more about systems that teams use for reviewing each others code in a
constructive way that is not adversarial and leads to improved confidence in
team members.

This situation is so pervasive among programmers that there is a common
management technique where you goad the programmer into working by suggesting
that they can't do it. Their insecurity makes them feel that they need to
prove their ability and then they work harder under these conditions.

Positive reinforcement and team based skills improvement seem like they would
be better, but the "prove you can do it" method also sometimes results in
actual growth.

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falcor84
As someone personally dealing with impostor-ish thoughts, I can certainly
attest that I feel much better when being told by a manager/client something
like "I'm not at all sure you can address this problem for me efficiently. Can
you?", rather than "I have full faith in your skills, go forth and bring me
results".

