Never tell someone your work is great before they hear it — let the work speak

May articulates a studio ethic learned from watching Juan Atkins: never ask someone to hear your work while simultaneously telling them it is great. If you say ‘I just made this, it’s great, check it out,’ you pre-load their opinion and eliminate the chance of honest feedback. Instead, ‘I just finished this — that’s for you’ hands the work over without prejudging it. If the listener says nothing, you know what they thought. This principle protects the maker from sycophancy and builds the habit of self-assessment before seeking external validation.

Examples

Atkins would close his studio door for two to three days, not let anyone watch, then emerge with a finished product. May describes the same ethic: ‘Don’t let anybody hear your product… until it’s done.‘

Assessment

State the principle in your own words. Give a scenario where violating it would likely produce worse feedback than following it. How does this connect to the idea of not dancing to your own music while producing it?