Anthi Malteza

Fake it till you Make it

Makes for a cool quote, and I actually think it comes from a good place:

Even if you don’t see the end of the tunnel yet, keep going like it’s out there somewhere.

It seems to me the goal is to encourage the young and scared and clueless to be bold and step forward anyway. This is good advice if you want to progress from young and clueless to mature and aware.

But sometimes in the entrepreneurial culture “Fake it” is used to imply “Pretend you know things even when you don’t” that -seems to me- encourages camouflaging one’s true identity, some hiding of knowledge and intentions.

“Till you make it”

Really? And when is that? A time comes when you have reached a specific level of success so you quit over-promising, over-confident behavior?

However dishonest this may look, it seems that pretended knowledge is actually expected when the stakes are high (like among young #entrepreneurs who face complex challenges with little experience) because uncertainty can be paralysing under demanding conditions yet leadership needs to look confident and assuring, not vulnerable or lost [#book Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman, #video https://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability]

But here’s another option to consider.

“Face it till you make it”

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