disagreement decision framework

Kevin Hale explains that startup co-founders should expect conflict and make plans for handling it before emotions run high. Drawing on John Gottman’s research, he describes harmful conflict patterns and recommends clear ownership, agreed success and failure criteria, and understanding each other’s attachment styles. He presents a disagreement process and Nonviolent Communication as ways to share feedback without personal attacks. The talk closes by urging teams to discuss goals, roles, motivation, and unresolved issues regularly so small problems do not become lasting emotional debt.