Friction

I was reading this post by David the other day. The key part was this:

(…) the absence of friction and apathy signifies a lack of genuine concern.

Where I saw this the most was at Sphere. The company had roughly 20 people when I joined - it had recently pivot and downsized. We were trying to figure things out and because of that we had many heated arguments about product and what we should build. I remember vividly having 1 to 2 hours of unplanned discussions about what we should try next - these discussions had lot of friction and strong opinions. But afterwards, when heads were a bit cooler, I knew that my colleagues cared as much about the company as I did. I never felt a hint of resentment over those disputes with anyone. The eyes were on the prize.

I have seen apathy and lethargy settling in and the arguments of “trying to accommodate” and “I am happy with whatever the team decides”. These are the dream killers.