I’ve seen firsthand what happens when company management refuses to confront the **brutal facts of reality.** Avoiding the truth creates a culture of delusion, which makes it impossible for anyone at the company to win because the conditions for winning don’t exist. With no shared understanding of reality, “winning” gets defined differently by different groups. The result is silos, politics, and jargon that slow companies down. (see: [[The Deep Tech Growth Cycle is different#4. Be wary of corporate tax.]]) When you begin with an honest and diligent effort to uncover the truth, the right decisions often become **self-evident.** But without confronting the brutal facts, good decision-making is impossible. Usually older executives want to show that they are always in control. They thinking that showing vulnerability or accepting the sense of chaos in today is a show of weakness. However, it is not possible when building a company to avoid adversity. One needs to face adversity directly and they will emerge stronger because of it. > This is where the **"Stockdale Paradox"** comes in: retain absolute faith that you and the company will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties, but at the same time, you have to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they may be. One of the most important tasks in building a great company is creating a culture where people have a real opportunity to be heard — and where the truth can come to the surface. How does one do this though? Jim Collins outlined four practices that help create this climate: 1. Lead with questions, not answers. 2. Encourage dialogue and debate, not coercion. 3. Conduct autopsies without blame. 4. Build red flag mechanisms that make it impossible to ignore key facts. ### Related leadership insights - Charisma can be as much a liability as an asset, as the strength of one's leadership personality can deter people from bringing forward the brutal facts. - Leadership does not begin just with vision. It begins with getting people to confront the brutal facts and to act on the implications. - Spending time and energy trying to “motivate” people is a waste of effort. The real question is not, “How do we motivate our people?” If you have the right people, they will be self-motivated. The key is to not de-motivate them. One of the primary ways to de-motivate people is to ignore the brutal facts of reality Ref: [[Matt Mochary]] | [[Jeff Bezos#Leadership Lessons]] | [[2023 Learnings]] | [[Jamie Dimon - Management Lessons]]