Impostor Syndrome

I've been working on an extremely challenging problem at work that's taken two months to untangle. At the end of it all, the actual solution ended up being quite simple, as it is often wont to be in the world of software engineering. When embarking on something new, you just don't know what you don't know, right?

(I have written a bit about this in my Troubleshooting Tree-shaking post)

When I figured out the solution, I was really happy initially. I had solved a problem I and my team had been plugging away at (on and off) for three months. A worthy cause for celebration! I felt like doing victory laps around my house.

Then, a few days later, the impostor syndrome kicked in, whispering in my ear: "But the solution was so simple, why didn't you see it earlier?" and "You don't deserve to be Staff Engineer and everyone around you knows it".

I did a knowledge-sharing talk about the problem, hoping to spare everyone else at my company from a similar fate, and all my brain could muster was "Everyone thought your talk was terrible and they think you are stupid". I must add that there was no evidence of this at all - I am lucky to have extremely supportive colleagues - this was just my brain doing its usual frustrating dance.