Critique the work, not the person
GDC-L1-TEAM-000201
Statement
Separate the idea from the person who had it. Honest, direct critique of the work is how it gets better; attacks on the person shut down the safety that makes critique possible. Give and receive feedback about the thing, not the maker — and hold your own ideas loosely enough to let them be cut.
02
Rationale
A team improves its work through candid evaluation, but candor only survives if it's aimed at the work rather than the worker: "this mechanic is confusing" invites improvement, while "you're a bad designer" invites defensiveness and silence [S-edmondson-psych-safety]. Keeping critique egoless protects psychological safety (TEAM-0001) and the quality of the feedback — people can hear hard truths about their work when their standing isn't under attack, and they can give hard truths when doing so isn't read as a personal assault. It also requires the receiving side: holding your ideas loosely (not fusing your identity to them) is what lets you kill your own darlings (PROTO-0005) and take feedback as help rather than threat. The goal is a team that can be ruthless about the work precisely because it's kind to the people.
03
Applies when
Every review, critique, playtest debrief, and design debate — any moment feedback is exchanged.
04
Does not apply / Exceptions
Sometimes feedback is rightly about a person's behavior or growth (a pattern of missed commitments, a skill to develop) — but that's a direct, private, growth-framed conversation, not public critique disguised as work-feedback. Kind to people, rigorous about the work — not the reverse.
05
Implementation
Frame feedback about the artifact and its effect ("this reads as X", "players got lost here"), not the author's character. Critique your own work in the same egoless terms to model it. Build rituals (design reviews, playtest debriefs) where critiquing the work is normal and expected. Separate identity from idea so cutting a feature (PROTO-0005) isn't experienced as a personal loss.
06
Disagreement
Little on the principle; the nuance is calibrating directness — some cultures prize blunt candor, others gentler framing, and individuals differ. The invariant is target-the-work; the tone is a cultural and personal variable.
07
Notes
Confidence 4.
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Connected principles
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