Why Great Leaders Don’t Take Yes for an Answer: Managing for Conflict and Consensus, Second Edition

3. An Absence of Candor

“Don’t be afraid of opposition. Remember, a kite rises against, not with, the wind.”

—Hamilton Wright Mabie

On January 21, 1988, General Motors Executive Vice President Elmer Johnson wrote a startling 25-page treatise describing the vast challenges the company was facing. GM’s market share had fallen from nearly 50% in the 1960s to roughly 35% in the late 1980s. Johnson described the external threats the firm faced, but he argued, “Our most serious problem pertains to organization and culture.”¹ He criticized the rigid and insular mindset of senior executives. Johnson explained one of the core challenges at GM:

The meetings of our many committees and policy groups have become little more than time-consuming formalities. ...