Either I completely misunderstood the article, or ... I also had a similar feeling, and I think it's more productive to focus on results and goals, rather than

Either I completely misunderstood the article, or ... I also had a similar feeling, and I think it's more productive to focus on results and goals, rather than "winning" or "losing". Nobody wants to be a loser. Further, I don't like the term battle, as it has a negative connotation, and this is exactly what you need to control or even to get rid of in a team: battle, win/lose, blood, emotions, arguments. In general I find the article pretty superficial and somewhat biased. In a real work environment you might have the best idea ever that might lead the product/company towards success, however, in front of you there is a senior dev/team lead to convince, and he is defensive and negative (and who knows, maybe he is having a bad moment in his life). How do you "win" this "battle"? By rationally "showing the numbers"? If we were all robots, this approach would possibly work, but in a team of 5 people there are 5 animals with 1) emotions, 2) personal problems, 3) different personalities, with ambitions, etc etc.