Same as with anything else in life, really. Take fitness for example- I hear guys bragging about how hard their routine is, how they train every day till exhaustion. That doesn't necessarily mean anything. Trying to constantly be busy with something is a form of laziness if you think about it. It means not doing the things that really make the difference- those annoying ones, the ones we always leave for later.
Not judging others for the mistakes they did speaks volumes about how we approach mistakes ourselves. Seth Godin's 'Poke the Box' goes over how sometimes it is way better to ship more content, product and whatnot, just in order to avoid this viscous cycle of fear from public exposure in case things go south.
Tilting towards building personal brands is so true, and I can totally relate. Even among friends, within social networks... We are carefully building this image emporium around our story, that it is almost surreal. Ego is a powerful thing, I guess.