The best places to work at are full of people that are intrinsically motivated. “Good job” is implied. Feedback, including criticism, is expected, as it helps i

The best places to work at are full of people that are intrinsically motivated. “Good job” is implied. Feedback, including criticism, is expected, as it helps improve things further or recognise perfection/good enough. Academics do have egos, but typically they compete against academics in other, remote departments, and many of the best ones behave in ego free ways in their groups and collaborations. Same in good industry teams, where having management get out of the way and letting the intrinsically motivated contributors work themselves is key. The competition is the outside world, not the eating of a larger share of the resources of the same team. If you like problem solving, stay humble and help others; you will have a lifetime of fun, even if it feels rocky some bad days.