September 14, 2022 at 4:44 am
I think Imposter Syndrome is a good driver, and has been for me.
However, it can be crippling, it can lead people to shy away from and avoid taking chances on growing or tackling projects. It can lead people to stay in a job instead of looking for another one.
It's all about finding some balance. A bit of Imposter Syndrome is good. Too much is bad. Just as too much bluster and arrogance is usually not good.
Having been there in the distant past and still occasionally suffering from it, I agree. But... there's that "drive" thing that I was talking about. If you're afraid, study from others, teach yourself with experiments (it's why I always posted a "million row test table"... I had to prove whatever I was talking about to myself first, especially after a couple of setbacks).
You might ask, "What setbacks did Jeff Moden have"? Consider the reason behind the "Tally-OH" article, which I included in the article. Consider where I got the "confidence" to publish that article. I taught myself how to generate shedloads of random, constrained, test data to prove the point to myself, first. The whole struggle is actually documented in that article.
That, and a whole lot of self-study and testing using the SQL Server Developer edition.
If anyone is interested in that struggle, here's the link to the article that I'm talking about.
And, remember... talk to the dust bunnies... they not only know a whole lot but they also know how to make some awesome beer pop-sicles. 😀
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
June 1, 2026 at 6:30 pm
Over 20 years ago, I was asked to administer the phone system. It was antiquated and had a separate system for voicemail. The only way to connect to them was directly using a terminal. There was no documentation and no one onsite knew anything about it. On top of that, they were no longer supported and the company didn't want to spend the money to replace the entire lot.
Over time, I learned how to administer each one, learned how the equipment worked such that I could insert new port cards (thankfully those were available aftermarket) and connect wires into the 66-block and 110-block panels. I even figured out how to replace the two terminals with a single PC connected into both systems using terminal emulation (I also used it to connect to a few other systems including the Cisco internet equipment and a timekeeping system).
Not that I want to do any of that again, but I'm glad it happened as it was a learning experience to understand how to extend my capabilities. Yes, you may feel as an imposter initially, but don't discount your ability to learn on the fly. IMHO, that is just as valuable as demonstrated experience!
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sqlrv
Website: https://www.sqlrv.com
June 2, 2026 at 12:53 am
Thank you very much, Aaron, for that story! I tend to succumb to imposter syndrome, so I need things like that to keep thinking.
I'll add my $0.02 story to your $100 story. Years ago, I worked at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Very Large Array, as what they called an "Array Operator". At the time I wanted to learn how to program. The only language available to me was FORTRAN. Array Operators, at least at that time, worked different shifts each week. Believe me, it wears you out. I was very young at the time, so I was able to put up with it for 3 years.
However, the graveyard shift I found to be brutal. I couldn't keep awake, and missed some changes when observations had to switch. There was an alarm in the control room, which I discovered I could access with FORTRAN. I wrote an application to silence the alarm for a specified period of time, until it got to 15 minutes before the observation changed. So, if I dozed off, it would wake me up. (BTW, the alarm would go off if something serious went wrong, so my program didn't interfere with anything serious.)
Rod
Viewing 3 posts - 16 through 18 (of 18 total)
You must be logged in to reply to this topic. Login to reply