Indeed, the management could have a different idea of what was an ideal direction. I just happened to disagree. It was a very small company, so I don't think I had a lot of different information. But even if that was the case, this was a good opportunity to have a perhaps heated but interesting discussion.
Did you continue to disagree after the issue had been aired and a decision had been made? That could definitely end up in the territory you describe.
Its actually really hard to agree to disagree. You need to have a situation where each person has the same propensity to concede an argument. Like a code review - just do what the other person suggests instead of arguing about it if it really doesn’t matter that much.
Imagine giving a speech to your team, and there is one employee who is rolling their eyes and smirking at things you say, and who you know disagrees with you. It’s very difficult to block out - and their are few who can handle that. You may be 100% onboard after a heated discussion and not making any outward gestures, but your mere presence will leave the person imagining you are rolling your eyes. And this festers.
You need to find a way to put yourself in their shoes and really feel what it’s like to have someone very critical of things around.
Yea, reputation is everything and you should never be completely open and it’s why people water down everything they say and end up kissing ass.
Even people who say they can take any criticism can’t. This is the best lesson you can learn.
And it goes without saying, overtly criticizing the king is pretty obviously a bad idea.
And that’s a bit of a subjective call
But I can't think of an example where a company keeps unconstructive critics on the payroll.