Stop blowhard syndrome

On the subject of imposter syndrome, I want to bring extra attention to this classic piece from Chris Xu, who writes about how unthinking application of the concept can often amount to treating self-awareness as a pathology. This is not to say that imposter syndrome isn’t real, but that the reverse—the belief that you are capable of doing anything, regardless of your experience—is not a salve. What we’re aiming for is an environment in which everyone’s experience and expertise is respected, while also being able to safely acknowledge that we all have things to learn. Or, to borrow from Xu’s brilliant nomenclature, in rooting out imposter syndrome, we’re not aiming to build a culture of blowhards in its place.