Building Your Baby While Planning to Kill It
You need to care deeply enough to build something great. And you need to be ready to throw it away tomorrow if the data says so. Both need to be true at the same time.
Building Your Baby While Planning to Kill It
The paradox: You need to care deeply enough to build something great. And you need to be ready to throw it away tomorrow if the data says so. Both need to be true at the same time.
The four failure modes:
- •Too attached: Treat everything like your baby, can't let go, take all feedback personally
- •Too detached: No skin in the game, don't care if it ships or dies, just pushing tickets
- •Avoidant: Don't want to hear criticism, easier to ignore feedback than deal with it
- •Overly critical: So negative about your own work that you can't grow
The skill: Great PMs navigate between caring deeply and being willing to kill their ideas. Between seeking improvement and maintaining confidence. You don't resolve these contradictions—you get better at holding both sides.
The question to ask yourself: When was the last time you asked someone where you're wrong? If you can't remember, you're probably too attached. If you ask constantly and spiral every time, you're probably too self-critical.