Delete your imposter syndrome

Welcome to My Next Electric, a newsletter on education & electrification.

• Education — helping everyone navigate the energy transition

• Electrification — how electric vehicles and batteries fit in

It’s 9.16.25, perfect square day, as good a day as any for a new 3-part series!

Last week, I shared my thoughts on education innovation at the first Leaders for a Better Louisiana conference. The 117-slide deck covers what I learned about markets, innovation, and community in 20 years of building learning spaces & tools.

Here’s one of my favorite slides:

Racing through the deck was a cathartic hoot.

• A hoot because I met some amazing, clever people thinking hard about where our red state’s headed.

• Cathartic because it forced me to sit down and process 20 years in education and 5 years exploring energy full-time.

I came to three conclusions:

1. It’s time to delete my imposter syndrome

2. I still dig Clayton Christensen’s Innovators Dilemma

3. Taking iterative, baby steps is still the way

The two weeks I spent drawing slides helped me get over something I’ve been fighting for five years — my imposter syndrome about being in energy.

“Get back in your education lane, teach; let the pros handle the energy stuff.” That’s what the nasty internal voices say.

They’re wrong.

In times like these, when a new technology is early and imperfect — in this case, electrification of traditionally gas-fired machines — it’s the pros that often get it wrong. They get stuck in what works now instead of putting time into what might work better soon.

Electrification means switching to electric machines that convert 90% or more of the energy we feed them into work from gas-burning machines that are 20-40% efficient.

• Yes, this transition should be done safely, iteratively, step by step, only when the math for each new machine doing useful things for humans makes sense.

• And if it’s anything like other big shifts, this one will be informed by curious non-incumbents. People like you and me.

It’s not that we don’t need engineers. Or scientists. Or even lawyers. We need lots of them.

But we need regular folks even more. The point of the energy industry is to help humans do things. In times of transition, insights and breakthroughs often come from folks who have clever ideas for work they want to do but who haven’t been stuck in the existing system their whole career.

For five years, I’ve been thinking being an energy-amateur’s a bad thing, but two weeks of reflective sketching reminded me that my weird educator-turned-electric-motorcycle-nerd perspective’s as likely to yield insights on electrification as what any energy veteran might suggest.

What if your unique perspective on how you use energy is the one we need for a critical iteration forward? For a breakthrough, even?

Sometimes, it makes sense to delete the stuff you don’t need anymore.

When I converted my 1969 Fiat to electric last year, I deleted the old gas tank. It was good:

• The car went faster.

• It smelled better.

• We got a front trunk!

My 55-year old imposter syndrome’s a lot like that 55-year old gas tank. I don’t need either one now.

There’s some really cool stuff coming soon from My Next Electric — open houses, ride & drives, a new learning cohort. Please subscribe to stay tuned!