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Integrity of Communication 167

without losing sight of the higher summit to which they aspire. “This
is a very important lesson,” says Admiral James Stockdale, quoted by
Jim Collins in his book Good to Great, “You must never confuse faith
that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—
with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current
reality, whatever they might be.”13

In a high-integrity startup environment, everything is open to
scrutiny. Founders scrutinize their own thinking and invite the
scrutiny of others. This includes the willingness to entertain skeptics
and take a systematic look at one’s own doubts and fears. Rather than
causing a downward spiral of increasing negativity, as positive thinking
enthusiasts might argue, I have found this practice of surfacing and
evaluating doubts to lead to even higher levels of confidence. It is the
business equivalent of a child’s leaving the security of the bedcovers
to confirm, once and for all, that no monster is hiding under the bed.
As Czechoslovakia’s heroic former president, Vaclav Havel, once
wrote, “Isn’t it the moment of most profound doubt that gives rise to
new certainties?”14

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