Comment by dwaltrip

This is a really important aspect. It's not necessarily the critique by itself.

It's about one being confronted with the possibility that some other unforseen solution could have saved days, weeks, or months of work (or even perhaps longer!) and the foolishness or incompetence that one might feel at not having realized this.

If there is a meaningful chance the alternative solution would have been better, and a significant amount of effort invested into the harder approach, it can be a very tough pill to swallow. The ego might reflexively jump in to defend the path that was taken. It may be difficult to have a productive conversation.