One of the abilities
great product developers
have
is separating themselves
from their products.
We don’t often seek out
criticism of ourselves.
In order to develop a great product,
however,
we HAVE to seek out
and listen to
criticism
of that product.
And if the product isn’t worth launching
we also have to be able
to KILL that product.
If we view the product
as an extension of ourselves,
this is very challenging.
I love having pen names
for my writing
because these other identities
remind me I am NOT my writing.
Hell, I don’t even write.
My pen name writes.
I’ll happily kill one of the messed up stories
that beyotch writes.
Separate yourself from your product.
Leading Blog has a great post
on why identification
can lead to negative, disruption behavior.