There is another issue with the largely cognitive approach to management, which we had big-time at Google. Smart, analytical people, especially ones steeped in computer science and mathematics as we were, will tend to assume that data and other empirical evidence can solve all problems. Quants or techies with this worldview tend to see the inherently messy, emotional tension thats always present in teams of humans as inconvenient and irrationalan irritant that will surely be resolved in the course of a data-driven decision process. Of course, humans dont always work that way. Things come up, tensions arise, and they dont naturally go away. People do their best to avoid talking about these situations, because theyre awkward. Which makes it worse.

Trillion Dollar Coach by Eric Schmidt