One of the top complaints from employees at startups I've worked at has been the constant shuffling of priorities without clear justification. It manifests in t

One of the top complaints from employees at startups I've worked at has been the constant shuffling of priorities without clear justification. It manifests in this way typically: founder tells company on a Monday that the priority is x; then in middle of the week says priority is y while being oblivious to the fact that y directly contradicts x. This leads to the barrage of water cooler gossip wondering if the founder knows what the heck he is doing. The sad thing is that usually founders have good reasons to constantly reassess priorities especially in early stages. But to change priorities without a clear transition about the why turns your passionate star employees into confused bots wondering why they are working for you.