There are far too many people in the world that act like they know everything. The grunts in the office world know this all too well – there are waaaayy too many managers out there that haven’t got a friggin’ clue how their department works. Even when they admit they don’t know what they’re talking about, they still expect us to believe them. How is this good? Believing someone that has no experience at all on any given subject can have seriously bad repercussions.
Let’s set up an example. Say John Doe, who has often said he loves animals, got into a conversation about what dogs eat, and said that chocolate is fine for them. However, John lives alone and actually knows nothing about dogs because he’s never had one, nor do any of his friends. He made this statement because he saw a person in a park give a dog a chocolate chip cookie, with apparently no ill effects.
What do you think would happen if the person(s) he was talking to never questioned the truth of John’s statement, then went home and gave their dog a chocolate bar? The dog would probably get sick; possibly even die, depending on the size of the dog and the amount of chocolate they consumed. A chocolate chip cookie doesn't have a lot of chocolate in it, and if it was given to a large dog it might not affect them at all. However, if it was given to a small dog like a Chihuahua there could be problems, and giving them an actual chocolate bar would be even worse.
If John knows nothing about dogs, why would he make such an irresponsible statement? Just to sound like he’s an expert on dogs? And how exactly is this going to help him become an expert? The short answer is it won’t. In fact, it would do exactly the opposite. Instead of giving good advice, he gave awful advice, which would at the very least seriously damage his reputation , make others think he’s not an expert at all, maybe even face charges for effectively killing someone’s dog. That kind of result would be his own fault; he’s not an expert and therefore shouldn't be acting like one.
But….what if, in the course of the original conversation, he also said “I’m not a doctor” before saying chocolate was okay for dogs? He could easily flip the blame back onto the dog owner for believing his statement without verifying its accuracy first. What a total jerk. But why would he say something like that to begin with? Was he just trying to sound impressive? And again, how is this going to help him become an expert?
Politicians are notorious for doing this kind of thing. An excellent example is the recent dust-up over climate change. Some try to claim ignorance by first saying “I’m not a scientist” but then make some statement against climate change that has no basis in fact whatsoever – such as scientists can’t agree on the subject. Really? Out of all the scientific research papers published about climate change, it was found that 97% of them agreed that humans play a role in causing it. But some politicians think, and continue to state to the public, that scientists can’t agree on the topic. How is deliberately misleading people going to help anyone? How can a problem be fixed if some of us can’t even admit there IS a problem?
To be fair, these are extreme examples. Giving fake advice that could cause death or negatively affect anyone (let alone millions) is vastly different than saying you know how to operate a program such as Microsoft Access when you don’t actually know anything about it. This scenario is far more likely, but there could still be negative consequences. It may not affect millions, but it could definitely affect you. Screwing up an important report because you don’t know how to use the program could mess up your standing in the office big time.
Here’s another example: You've said you know XYZ software to get a job, but on your first day they ask you to run a report using that very system; how do you get it done? Feign confusion? Say the printer isn't working? Lie to a coworker about your system access to get them to do it for you? This strategy simply won’t hold up over the long term. You either do it yourself (thus exposing your lack of knowledge) or cajole others into doing it for you. And by the way, manipulating people to do your work is not delegating.
Eventually your boss is going to figure out you’re full of it, and then they’re going to wonder what else you’re hiding. How can they trust you when your behavior shows you to be insincere and a liar? You lied on the application, lied in the interview, and even lied to your co-worker about your system access. In some places, just lying on your application is immediate grounds for dismissal. Kind of puts the damper on your attempts at “making it”, doesn't it?
Expertise is earned through hard work; it’s not absorbed by osmosis.
Maintaining all this fake cheerfulness can create a lot of stress on the person doing it. Eventually you start to resent being forced to act nicely when you really don’t give a hoot. It becomes physically and emotionally draining, and can lead to complete burnout. It’s even worse if you fake financial security. Pretending you have more money than you actually do more often than not means you end up deep in debt, maybe even bankrupt. (Anyone remember what happened to Jules in St. Elmo's Fire?)
The only way “fake it til you make it” actually works is if you lack self-confidence, fear speaking in public, or some other such psychological issue. That’s right – it’s a psychological thing, not a way to get ahead with no actual training. That’s when this credo becomes a form of therapy; where you face your fears head-on. Like immersion therapy – if you’re afraid of water, then you expose yourself to water a little bit at a time and eventually you won’t be scared of it anymore. But in the working world – and here’s the important part – before you can fake the confidence of presenting your idea(s), you have to have the nuts and bolts of expertise to back it up.
If you have a kick-ass presentation that will change the world but are so afraid of speaking in public that you never get to present it, then it’ll never change the world. But … faking confidence to give a presentation isn't going to work if you don’t have the kick-ass presentation to begin with. John Doe will never become an expert on dogs by saying outright false information, even if he does say it with a ton of confidence. His statements are still untrue, which makes him a stupid yahoo with no expertise in dogs at all. Expertise is earned through hard work; it’s not absorbed by osmosis. The bottom line here is that people who “fake it,” only to appear more capable, are complete frauds.
Some info about "fake it til you make it" and why it's bad
Some info about how they got the "97% of scientists agree" figure