The irony is that the ones who’ll suffer aren’t the people with impostor syndrome – but the ones who never had it

If you’re a skilled but modest specialist, you already know how the Dunning – Kruger effect works

The more competence – the less swagger

The deeper the knowledge – the stronger the feeling that “I barely know anything”

And people like that often underestimate themselves, wrestling with doubts and inner criticism

But here’s the twist:

Real impostors never had impostor syndrome

They climb up without shame, hesitation, or reflection

That’s how they become top managers, CEOs, strategists – and then we wonder why so many decisions are made by people whose competence is… questionable

The good news is that AI reshuffles the power dynamics

When the technological “tide” goes out, you finally see who was swimming without swimwear

AI is already performing part of the work at a level above the human average

And if a person can be fully replaced by an AI, it simply means they’ve been holding a position that never really belonged to them

Why this is great for strong specialists:

Because they cannot be replaced

Depth of analysis, strategic thinking, understanding of human cognition, the ability to generate unexpected insights under uncertainty – all this is still out of reach for machines

These are the people who create solutions that save businesses, uncover insights that move markets, and produce value that cannot be faked

AI finally gives us real competition

Not a battle of egos, noise, or office politics

But competition in essence

In competence

In the things that actually create value – not in who’s better at “managing upward”

And yes, some will ask: “What about the people who just sat there and didn’t want to learn anything? Won’t they become useless?”

The honest answer: yes, they will

And that’s a good thing

Because it’s time to level up, train your brain, increase your skills

I myself can one day end up on the sidelines – and that fear is exactly what pushes me to learn faster

AI isn’t just a work tool

It’s a tool for self-understanding if you use it right

It’s built on knowledge about humans, psychology, and behavioral logic

And if you use it as a lever – it accelerates growth

If you use it as a crutch – it accelerates decline

As I wrote on my Telegram channel:

“Use AI as a multiplier of learning, not a multiplier of your own decomposition”

#ai #artificialintelligence #career #impostor #dunningkruger

AI will show who actually worked – and who only pretended to was originally published in Product Box on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

They exist in two entirely different ecosystems — and not every environment can handle someone who senses nuance and sees a product through the lens of human psychology rather than corporate KPIs. And if it can’t, it will either spit them out or break them fairly quickly.

It’s a mistake to think “a product manager can work anywhere.” Context matters more than skills. And temperament matters more than context.

If you’re someone who feels people more deeply than you follow processes, the corporate structure can easily render you ineffective. Not because you’re weak — but because the environment is incompatible.

I’ve seen this same story many times:

Empathetic, sensitive, tech-curious product managers join corporations. Within six months, they feel lost. Within a year — burned out. After two years — they start questioning whether they chose the right profession at all.

Here’s why:

In corporations, it’s not the Agile deck that governs you — it’s the true underlying culture.

That deeper structural atmosphere is where the invisible rules often work against those who build products through warmth, human insight, behavioral psychology, neurophysiology, cognitive science.

That doesn’t mean corporations are bad.

It means they are designed for a different kind of person — colder, more pragmatic, someone who understands the formal rules of the game and can push their goals through even if emotions get in the way.

And those people are objectively more effective in a formal system, because the system is built around them.

Here’s what happens to a “sensitive” product manager inside:

• Their ideas get dismissed as “not aligned with priorities”

• Their focus on micro-UX gets labeled “overthinking”

• Their attempts to breathe life into the product are seen as a threat to the process

• Their depth is suffocated by layer after layer of bureaucracy

Eventually, you stop being yourself.

You grow a skin that was never yours to begin with.

And slowly, you lose the very qualities that made you want to be a product manager in the first place.

But there’s another side

In startups, mid-sized companies, or projects run by solo founders, you suddenly see:

• Direct user feedback

• Real impact from small decisions

• Freedom to dig into details that actually change behavior

• The ability to lead with empathy — not justify it

You work for outcomes, not for alignment with structure.

And that brings the joy of the profession back.

Empathetic, sensitive product managers aren’t the weak link. They’re the ones who bring human warmth into digital products.

And they’re the ones moving the market forward — even if corporate machines don’t always know what to do with them.

As for topics like true vs. declared culture, values vs. actual incentives, architectural inconsistency, and micro-UX as a strategic weapon — we’ll save those for another post.

#productmanagement #product #productculture #empathy #bigtech

Empathy isn’t part of the KPIs was originally published in Product Box on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.