Success at Work : Techniques : Get Ahead by Faking It

By Stephen Bucaro

Are you working in a "no stretch" organization? To succeed at work, you need to "stretch" your capabilities. You need to perform tasks above your skill level, tasks you've never done before. In a no stretch organization, workers are assigned only tasks they've done before.

Because you have no experience in a task, you're not assigned that task. Because you're not assigned that task, you have no experience in that task. Because you have no experience in that task ...

- Well run organizations make a deliberate effort to give their employees assignments that require them to stretch. If you work in such an organization, there's no need to continue reading this article.

You can break cycle of stagnation by faking it. When your boss asks if you've done a task before, mumble something ambiguous like "yeh - easy shot". That's right, outright lie to your boss.

- Disclaimer: I am not recommending this technique to doctors or airline pilots (although I have no doubt they use it).

You say you would never lie at work? But you did lie. The first time you entered door for job interview, you pretended to be interested in "work" when in reality you just wanted to know how much they pay and how much vacation you would get, didn't you?

- The ultimate fake; hundreds of people in corporate executive positions were discovered to have fake degrees.

If you accept an assignment above your capabilities and fail to produce results, you could be fired. But in most cases, you will be able to "stretch" your skills and complete task successfully. As a result, you will advance in your career. In any case, if you're in a "no stretch" organization, what do you have to lose?

- In this article, you'll learn techniques to succeed by faking it.

- It's very common for freelancers and experts to take on tasks beyond their capability. They don't consider it to be faking, they call it "confidence".

Recognize When NOT to Fake It

How much do you have to stretch to accomplish task? Is task so far beyond your skill level that there is no way you could stretch enough to perform even a minimally acceptable job? If so, wait for a different opportunity to fake it.