Back in 1981, I was offered a job up on Federal Hill in Providence. My new boss took me to a shadowy back room and showed me a machine that looked like a cross between an electric organ and a typewriter. “Have you ever used one of these?” he asked.
“You bet,” I lied, my mouth dry.
I managed to figure it out. Within a few months, I was the only person in the place who really knew how to use the thing.
For a long time I felt guilty about this. Then, again and again in my personal life, I found myself faking expertise in a particular field. I still didn’t feel good about it, but at least I was becoming a more proficient liar.
Now I read this article by Luke Johnson in the Financial Times. He tells a story about taking a job as a DJ, when he had a big record collection but no experience. He figured it out. Lesson: many successful people begin their careers by faking expertise. (Evidently there was even a British TV show about this: people taking on jobs/roles that they had no background for.)
When I was young, I used to be more or less terrified of adulthood, because I believed that I didn’t know the rules. Adults always seemed to know what to do; they seemed so natural. I tried to figure out the rules; I tried to learn the right things to do.
Now I realize it’s all about faking it
And what’s wrong with that? Life isn’t a quiz; there’s no answer key. We just do the best we can.
What else are we doing in this life, from dawn to dusk and after, but faking our way through?
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