Conflict Avoidance is Dishonesty

In today's world, startups face greater challenges than ever in being truthful. We live in a massive reality distortion bubble fueled by yield-chasing capital inflows into technology. To tell the truth, we must accept risks, unresolved problems, and mistakes. Most company failures are caused by teams, not individuals, making it even harder to tell ... See more

A company that avoids hard truths assumes that an engineer who knows the company has missed a quarter will leave for sunnier pastures, so it's best to keep them in the dark until the problem is resolved. In their hearts, the CEO and her staff know the truth. They're smart enough to see it for themselves.

The instinct to avoid conflict is an instinct that is natural and useful - if the tribe didn't like you, you wouldn't get food. However, conflict avoidance is also a form of dishonesty, the most common form in business. I'm talking about leaders who fail to create a team environment where conflict avoidance is mitigated. "This isn't working."

A few suggestions to inoculate your company against this form of naturally emergent dishonesty:

1. Choose board members you trust.


2. Tell the truth yourself, because everyone models the CEO.