It can mean that you fix conflicts closer to the point where they first happened, or it can mean that you have to fix the conflict in a bunch of different ways as it propagates through each successive commit. I find myself trying to outsmart the conflicts: "Ok, I know I changed such-and-such in such-and-such a way here in a few commits, so if I fix this conflict like this, then hopefully I won't have to fix that commit later..."