Originally published 2021/07/05
I read Bailey's posts first, and one quote from her Week 2 post stood out to me:
“The biggest takeaway I have from this guide is that you are going to make mistakes, everyone does, but mistakes don’t have to be a huge time waste. I plan to follow their advice “if you make a mistake, simply pause and then start right before the mistake.”
Upon reflection, I think my takeaway is that confidence is not gained from perfection, but from the knowledge you obtain from making mistakes. Because mistakes are a reality, it is important to plan them into your workflow. Not the mistakes themselves obviously but the time it takes to learn from them and correct them. (As someone who never adds time beyond what the GPS says is the trip length, I can support the notion that mistakes will happen and you will always regret not adding in additional time.)
As far as imposter syndrome is concerned, I feel like I am so used to suffering from it that its hardly a burden anymore. Whenever I bring up imposter syndrome to my friends or colleagues, I'm met with the same "Well, no one really knows what they're doing." And that is comforting weirdly. The older I get, the more comfortable I am in the uncomfortable, stumbling over myself, making mistakes, admitting to my mistakes. I used to try to hard to be perfect and to hide my flaws, but luckily I was allowed to bloom and thrive in an environment that encouraged me to try new things and fail a few times before getting it right. Both in my professional and personal life, the "perfectionist" thought process didn't change until I felt comfortable and supported enough to admit to my mistakes. So even though I recognize I am more outside of my comfort zone than ever, I am much more confident about that than I have ever been. And learning new things, especially in a supportive environment like the OPWL program and with my fellow students, makes me all the more confident out in the real world. No one is perfect, very few people succeed on their first try. Everyone was a beginner at some point. I just have to remind myself that everyone is still learning and that, given the chance, most people want to see others succeed.
I also read Stephanie's blog and loved the quote:
“When I was growing up, we first “performed” for the adults in our lives: “Look at me! Look what I know how to do all by myself!” and then we performed in school at science fairs and spelling bees. People love to share knowledge and information, particularly when they get to be the teacher, I think it’s human nature.”
I agree that people naturally want to share their thoughts and successes with others in their communities. I think the most important tool we have as practitioners is an open source of communication. I think through community, we all become better and improve not only our prospects but the field as a whole. I've always been of fan of open source work, sharing files, offering help. In my organization, we schedule time to share new findings and ideas with one another. At least once a week I check out the discussion boards and design challenged on E-Learning Heroes. Seeing what other people in the field are doing inspires my creativity and challenges me to be better. I think the best way to promote this communication is to emphasize and champion collaboration over competition. The second best way is to provide a platform to the people who want to share. I could go on a rant about how corporate interests poison even the purest-intending platforms, but luckily there are smart and persistent enough people out in the world that will keep producing new platforms by which to share content.