Does anybody else not really understand their own job?

[Imowningup]

I’ve been in a particular sector for 14 years. I know I’m good at delivering outcomes at operational level.

2 years ago I was promoted to strategic level and now I spend a lot of time talking in corporate jargon. It’s made me realise that I’ve just learnt what to say- I don’t really have in depth knowledge of it in the way I had real in depth knowledge when I was delivering at operational level.

I feel a bit of a fraud but I honestly think a lot of jargon is meaningless and will only be around until another buzz word replaces it. I feel like now I work less, get paid more and just parrot out jargon because it’s expected.

I should say that my line managers/anybody I’ve worked with at this level are all very happy and complimentary of my work- I just feel a bit of an imposter.

Does anybody else feel
like this or has experienced it?

What are your deliverables in the current role? I assume it is internal rather than client facing?

I think a lot of people have imposter syndrome. I’d say most know far more than others about their role however.

If you’re getting away with just spouting meaningless jargon and buzzwords without actually delivering anything tangible… that’s more unusual (!).

I have a job that straddles both ops and strategy. I understand my job very well.

I can’t quite get my head around NOT understanding my role on a day to day basis to be honest.

When I was in a professional role there seemed to be a lot of people just using jargon. When asked what it actually meant on the ground and in tangible terms they didn’t have a clue - they’d just learnt the lines to say and sound good.

Both internal and client facing.

I do deliver tangible outcomes which are evidence by data and feedback. I know I do my job well I just feel that I have learnt to use jargon to sound more impressive than I am!

What do you do?

I sometimes feel this, but in the opposite way to you. I understand a good chunk of my role but it seems to be growing around me at a rate I can’t keep up with and I’m really not good at the corporate speak/jargon (likely ADHD).
I somehow manage to achieve everything I need to and more and receive good feedback but it’s hard.

This is exactly what I mean.

operational level- these people know the job inside out.

strategic- they don’t always know the operational aspects but spout the jargon.

Going from ops to strategic really highlights how some high level managers have lost sight of the day to day operational roles but are REALLY good at using buzz terms.

Thats thing about PowerPoints and jargon: nobody really knows whether there are 50 hours of work in your 5 bullet points or 5 minutes. Or if you're using vague jargon to disguise what you're (not) doing or just for convenience.

Il deliberating trying to be vague but think public service- nursing, police, teachers, social work, fire service…. It’s one of those.

There are days when I feel totally confident and firing on all four cylinders. Others when I feel I’m just winging it. I’m NHS so the job is very dynamic according to new research/guidelines. The expectations of service users has changed a lot too. Agree re jargon… sometimes new words are used to describe things we’ve done for decades.

I would hate to be promoted further as I am now in some of these type of meetings and I just feel like I have wasted a load of time and we've talked about a load of stuff but nobody has actually decided anything or really done anything

Richard Feynman said that there’s a difference between knowing something, and knowing the name of something.

There is a theory that everyone is promoted to a level they're incompetent at! A bit depressing! I think I have imposter syndrome, worsening now I'm perimenopausal.

Me! No fucking clue most of the time.

So stop using the jargon and talk in terms that you and others can understand. The work has to be meaningful in terms of what you are trying to deliver, I am struggling to understand how it can be if you yourself are talking in jargon that you don't even understand. Either that or go away and seek deeper understanding of what the jargon means.
Honestly this is infuriating. I work in public services and the last thing we need is senior managers who don't understand what they are talking about

Ha yes! I used to work for a blue chip firm in a management role. I remember sitting on a conference call one day spouting whatever was the latest catchphrase and just realised it was all pointless nonsense. It felt like I was just playing a role. I left, retrained and now have a job that I feel has genuine value.

Yep, same. I've done what I do for 17 years and climbed the ranks, get glowing praise from all stakeholders, smash my objectives and always get a bonus.

I've only got another 20-30 years of pretending to know what on earth I do before I can retire....!!

I am also in a more strategic/ policy-making role after years of being more technical in a public service field. It has taken me a long time to come to terms with the fact that my work is less tangible now, and less measurable. It sometimes makes me feel that I'm not "doing" anything because I'm not producing anything solid, and my timescales are now measured in months rather than hours. However, when I look back over the year, I realise that my work is important, and that I am useful! It's not so much that I don't understand what i do, but it is harder to quantify, and to describe what I actually do, day to day.

I do worry though, that I benefit from the "halo effect". I look like I belong, say the right words, wear the right clothes, etc. and I sometimes worry that this makes people give me the benefit of the doubt more than they would if I came across differently. Not sure if I'm explaining that right - almost like an inverse imposter syndrome. But maybe it is imposter syndrome making me think that...??!

Yes, that is vague! 😄

I know a few people in the NHS who say similar.

There's no way you can be a teacher or the other jobs you've mentioned without understanding what us it you're doing ...

Lol- agreed, but she could have been in some kind of nonsense MAT role except she would have said schools/education, not 'teachers' as the sector. So it's one of the others...

I was in an operational / tangible role which morphed into a strategic role in a non tech role at a tech company.

I was "fine" in role but honestly it was such claptrap... just navel gazing agrandising buzzword bullshit and I was fairly poor at concealing my contempt...

I dont know how people do it. Its utter 1984 doublethink nonsense.

In several companies the only thing this would get you is managed out (with some PILON if your are lucky).

I relate to all of this, including the halo effect.

I know I'm talking myself down - I AM very good at what I do. It's just a bit of a bull shitty role that isn't very tangible and I think it's that lack of tangibility that sets me on edge.

I do swear though that looking the part, and walking with a sense of purpose - notebook in hand - is a large part of how I got here!

Ha yes definitely - my actual work has decreased as my meetings and waffling (and salary!) have increased.

The best spin on it though, which I do mostly believe, is that at some point you are paid more for your ideas and plans than your actual on-the-ground work. So in amongst what feels like corporate jargon, you are probably setting deliverables and strategies at a higher level than you were when you were operational, and that is filtered down by the managers beneath you into actionable tasks for their teams