Poorly run businesses need docile, dishonest employees who won't point out how badly the business is run, so that it can continue circling the toilet for as long as possible.
Lean, well-run businesses rely on people who are sharp and willing to search out problems in need of fixing. This is necessary for real innovation and competence.
You see this pattern not just in business, but it all kinds of situations. For example, governments that harshly suppress their populations' speech gradually turn into economic backwaters (requiring them to suppress even harder and harder to stay afloat), while governments that foster the exchange of ideas and roll with the punches become the world's economic and geopolitical kingpins.
