“Nothing can harm you as much as your thoughts are unguarded.”
We have said many times that agile is not always about the twelve processes and principles or four values it defines. It includes the change and acceptance of the change from our core. The change we need to adapt to is not only about our surroundings and environment but also the change within. This ‘getting comfortable with the change’ term is what we call an agile mindset. So today we will learn in knowing more about the agile mindset. We will know more about imposter syndrome and the agile way of working and handling it.
The imposter syndrome is the way a person feels that what he has achieved in life as success is all because of his good luck or being at the right place at right time. In this syndrome, the individual is always in doubt about their ability, skills, and accomplishment which makes them fear getting exposed as a fraud.
At some point, we all have experienced that when we are new at the workplace we avoid showing things we don’t know and try to learn things on our own without asking for help from others. In these situations, we always try to prove ourselves and show our recruiter that they have not done a bad job in choosing us. This creates immense pressure on us. At the heart of this feeling is imposter syndrome. So we need to understand that we are not alone in this and it’s always necessary to reflect on what we feel and what it is at the bottom of our feelings.
In an agile mindset recognizing the issues is the first step towards solving them and considering them as half work done. So once we learn about it we must try to know that it’s okay to be wrong. Many times we at work create an environment where being wrong is not a good thing. But as leaders and managers we must develop an environment of positivity within our team for every team member. We must welcome mistakes in our teams. Because mistakes and being wrong is the need for learning and improving.
As we know now what imposter syndrome is let’s move towards learning how to overcome it.
Understand Your Feelings
To improve it is necessary to understand what’s wrong and then the journey begins. Try to train and adapt every team member and yourself including yourself, to reflect on yourselves and your feelings and know what you feel. As psychology is a part of the agile mindset in agile we can say we must know CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) way which is to write down your thought when you feel something different from usual. This will make your mind process slow down and question what you have written or felt.
Research your Imposter
When you know what you feel and understand it talk to people or team members you trust. You will know that you are not alone in it and many have faced it the same as you. Only knowing that others are there with you will feel somewhat relaxed with the imposter syndrome. When you will see that other competent and intelligent individuals also faced it, will make you feel better at some point.
Improve and Strengthen your Self-Defense
By knowing it’s not only you, but you will also get relaxed and have time to improve your self-defense. Try to strengthen the defense of your thoughts. Instead of getting the wind up in your inner thought try to see this chatter as a third person. This method will make you see your thoughts from an objective and third-person’s perspective instead of taking it all as accepted.
Validate your strength
Once you improve your defense validate ways you are working on your thought. Read books or watch videos that will help you know are you on the right way. Once it is validated it will help build your confidence more and make you interact with other team members more and ask for help and defeat this imposter syndrome.
Even though overcoming imposter syndrome will take time but we must know that to be agile we always need to practice first with our thought, then with our words, and finally with our actions. Life is always a learning journey so keep learning and improving from the inside out for your betterment, but always remember, “You don’t have to attend perfection or mastery to be worthy of the success you achieved.”
About Advance Agility
We, at Advance Agility, are the new-age Agile Coaching, Consulting, and IT services company. We enable end-to-end Digital Transformation. Agile execution is integral to our being. We are doing SAFe implementation with small, medium, and large organizations across the globe. Our vision is to be the leading Agile execution player globally. To keep adding value at every process stage. We are on a mission to empower our clients and move from concept to cash in the shortest sustainable lead time by adopting the human-centric approach to business agility. Embracing change is in our DNA. Things that keep us apart are Quicker and Seamless execution with an End-to-end gamut of services. Our Global presence and Stellar Track Record give us an edge over our competitors.
Connect with us at advanceagility.com to learn about SAFe and SAFe Implementation. Write to us at contact@advanceagilty.com for any agile training or consulting needs. We are always looking for competent agile trainers as well. So if you are a good trainer or want to become one, do get in touch with us to that we can learn, grow and achieve together.
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