Leave Ego at the Door

One of the hardest steps to take towards being selfless in development is to not let yourself get in the way of making your apps better. You put a little of yourself into everything you make, but it’s extremely important to not let your infatuation with your first build lead you to viciously defend it like some kind of maternal nesting animal.

The first step towards becoming more selfless in development is to forget your ego and remember your purpose: to build applications that solve problems and do what they were meant to do. Everything else will ultimately be an extension of this concept.

The way you respond to criticism and feedback is a good gauge of how closely you cling to your ego. When people can’t figure out basic features or functionality of your application, it’s easy to get frustrated having to explain why you built something the way you did. Ego can get in the way here; many developers take on a condescending role as they explain simple functionality to “lesser” life forms. The important thing to remember here is that if those close to you (coworkers, friends, bosses, etc.) can’t figure out how to use your application, chances are the end user will have an even more difficult time. Learn to take any and all feedback gratefully and respectfully; you need to foster an environment where criticism is a positive thing, another chip off the stone block that will one day become a masterpiece sculpture.

Another indicator of whether ego is getting in the way is how much you resist change. When new features are required or new technology is mandated, the easiest but least helpful reaction is to search for reasons why these changes aren’t as critical as everyone seems to think they are.

Finally, remember the hard truth that you have an extremely limited perspective as a developer. As much as you might think you can place yourself in the shoes of your users, it’s extremely difficult. In fact, it’s impossible. There are companies and job titles dedicated solely to figuring out what users are thinking. That’s not really your job, but realizing that you don’t have all the information is a step towards taking yourself out of the way of progress.