> I'd momentarily feel superior over having a different idea about how to accomplish those goals, only to feel deflated once my idea also showed short-comings.

> I'd momentarily feel superior over having a different idea about how to accomplish those goals, only to feel deflated once my idea also showed short-comings. That just means you weren't valuing the right things. At the end of the day, that's what it's about. It's not about "technique A should have been used instead of technique B", it's more about what you value. It matters because those values will inform both your decisions and your actions. For example, someone who values performance will not write slow code. Someone who values productivity will write slow code. Someone who values stability may or may not write slow code and may or may not be productive, but their systems won't arbitrarily go down.