ESSENTIALS MANAGEMENT It wasn’t a perfect resolution, but it reversed intensifying factionalism. “The tension stemming from location differences and the distinct styles of each group were problematic,” says Lotfesness. “Not everybody in the end was totally happy. But the conlfict was gone — and with it the distractions and the ineiffciencies that came from ifghting back and forth. It allowed each team to pursue the goals of the company more eiffciently, which everyone agreed was far more important than our petty squabbles.” Fewer Factions, Less Friction Early-stage startups are as prone to factions as large companies — it’s less about headcount and more about getting ahead of them. To keep them at bay, internalize the difference between teams and factions. Take steps at gateway experiences — hiring, onboarding, transfers, technology selection and team or oiffce growth — to prize cross-disciplinary collaboration, functional immersion, career mobility and the values underpinning different tools and oiffces. But, even with all these efforts, there’s an important truth: you may not solve every factional struggle with an outcome that thrills everyone. But if you can implement processes in these ifve areas and avoid issues before they arise, so much the better. Even in those earliest, breakneck days, it’s well worth your time. “I liken it to coding. You try to catch bugs as early in the process as you can, because it costs much less then than it does in production, when it’s already affected your customers,” says Lotfesness. “The same is true of any cultural problem. Maybe you hired the wrong people — or you’ve allowed members of your team to rally around an unhealthy theme or practice. Unwinding that is going to be much harder than taking a small step early on to counteract factions. You owe that to your people.” Photography courtesy of the subjects. Art by wildpixel/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images. 94