Signal v. Noise: Strangers at a cocktail party

Fantastic post from the insightful guys over at 37Signals:

Hire a ton of people rapidly and a ‘strangers at a cocktail party’ problem is exactly what you end up with. There are always new faces around so everyone is unfailingly polite. Everyone tries to avoid any conflict or drama. No one says, ‘This idea sucks.’ People appease instead of challenge.

And that appeasement is what gets companies into trouble. You need to be able to tell people when they’re full of crap. If that doesn’t happen, you start churning out something that doesn’t offend anyone but also doesn’t make anyone fall in love.