Actual impostors already know/don't need this advice. And the actual impostors will always be there. If we want to increase the percentage of effective non-impostors, we need the experts to learn to accept their expert status.
I also think that you are misinterpreting what the advice is. It is not that you should mislead other people about your skill. It's that when someone wants to pay you to do something and they are aware of your expertise, you should take them up on it.
If you've read a lot and written about lean start up methodologies, but have not yet tried to start a business yourself, and someone come to you, aware of your level of experience, and asks to pay you to come and look at their business model and take them through your reactions and feedback, you shouldn't refuse just because you have no direct experience. They know what they're getting, and they want to pay you for it? Do it.
If you've never assisted at a wedding, but have posted some nice pictures from your phone on Instagram, and someone wants to pay you to take photos at their wedding, you should do it. You should make it completely clear to them what your experience level is, and that they probably should hire a professional, but if they still say they want to hire you, do it.
But of course the e-commerce site is a different story. If you actually don't know anything about basic web app security, and somehow you know that you don't know anything about it and that it's important (we are talking about approximately four people worldwide), then no, you shouldn't build an e-commerce site without insisting that they also hire someone with security expertise.
>But IMO too many people are straight-up lying about what they are and what they know.
There are a fair number of those yes, but I suspect that the majority of people who seem to be doing that are really just completely ignorant of their ignorance.
> If we want to increase the percentage of effective non-impostors, we need the experts to learn to accept their expert status.
I'd argue that a good part of what helps some of these people achieve the expert status is their impostor syndrome. It pushes them to continue to be better all the time and never be satisfied with themselves (to a fault). Challenging them to "accept their status" is like telling them to change a core part of who they are.
I completely disagree. In my experience, the most knowledgeable people are the ones who are genuinely interested and curious and crave more knowledge, no matter what. You could convince them that they were the most knowledgeable person in the world, and that wouldn't prevent them from learning more.
> You could convince them that they were the most knowledgeable person in the world
I agree. I'm just saying that the challenging part (especially for those with impostor syndrome) is actually being able to convince them they are the most knowledgeable person in the world.
I also think that you are misinterpreting what the advice is. It is not that you should mislead other people about your skill. It's that when someone wants to pay you to do something and they are aware of your expertise, you should take them up on it.
If you've read a lot and written about lean start up methodologies, but have not yet tried to start a business yourself, and someone come to you, aware of your level of experience, and asks to pay you to come and look at their business model and take them through your reactions and feedback, you shouldn't refuse just because you have no direct experience. They know what they're getting, and they want to pay you for it? Do it.
If you've never assisted at a wedding, but have posted some nice pictures from your phone on Instagram, and someone wants to pay you to take photos at their wedding, you should do it. You should make it completely clear to them what your experience level is, and that they probably should hire a professional, but if they still say they want to hire you, do it.
But of course the e-commerce site is a different story. If you actually don't know anything about basic web app security, and somehow you know that you don't know anything about it and that it's important (we are talking about approximately four people worldwide), then no, you shouldn't build an e-commerce site without insisting that they also hire someone with security expertise.
>But IMO too many people are straight-up lying about what they are and what they know.
There are a fair number of those yes, but I suspect that the majority of people who seem to be doing that are really just completely ignorant of their ignorance.