So are you saying you would rather have not heard the honest, but negative feedback at all? It sounds like in hindsight you are grateful for the honesty. Would

So are you saying you would rather have not heard the honest, but negative feedback at all? It sounds like in hindsight you are grateful for the honesty. Would n-years of lying have helped you any more? Would you have the insight you have now if you were simply lied to and told "great team - show me more traction", when they really think "gosh, what a sucky team"?