Productive Dissenters in Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurs make this mistake over and over and over again. When you start a company, you need help to go far. You want people who believe in you. Belief is the currency. It becomes a lens through which you hire and expand. After you reach a particular scale, this belief may become cloudy. The product or strategy may be perfect, but the belief has become cloudy.
At this point, some voices surface, pointing out what may go wrong. They do it repeatedly, and you wonder — “Why don’t they see the positive side? Why do they always ‘complain’ the negatives?” — eventually, you push them away from the organization (with all valid reasons).
What’s unrealized? It’s also the same people who roll up their sleeves, work day and night, and show up daily.
Here’s the consequence — You surround yourself with people who create a belief echo chamber that makes you blind and furthers you from the ground truth.
People who repeat all the hints of what could go wrong are productive dissenters. They try to help you until they become helpless. Many entrepreneurs confuse them with negative dissenters who are malevolent.
