On the portfolio mindset

Being a productive and efficient maker has its one, dramatic drawback: attachment. To the project, to the team, to the company. Let's see how it's a slippery slope!

You probably know this feeling of emotional attachment: "it's like my baby", "I feel responsible for it", "I care too much". While it's a good thing to some extent, being too attached to a particular setup (like a project, a team, or a company) results in a funelled focus.

The danger of being too focused on one thing is that it eliminates the ability to see a bigger picture and strategize across a larger landscape of opportunities. If you ever felt the dreadful feeling of "this has to work, or…!", then you know how this attitude is unconstructive.

Instead, try to grow a portfolio mindset, i.e., consider every project and task as a piece of a larger image: some of these will work out to your advantage, and some will fail to provide useful insight. Being honest and constructive about what works and what doesn't allows you to maintain the proper perspective. You won't emotionally attach to projects that are time-sinking failure, reallocating the energy and effort to where it makes the biggest impact, and brings value!