Always being right is so wrong

In the early ’90s, George Michael filed a legal case against Sony, arguing his recording contract amounted to “professional slavery.” He claimed it unfairly bound him to produce eight albums without granting him creative control or guaranteeing promotion. Instead, it locked him into a system that undervalued his artistry. The High Court, after 74 days of testimony, rejected his claims. The judge ruled the contract was both reasonable and enforceable.  The fallout was steep:

• The legal battle cost millions and consumed years of time.
• His recording hiatus lasted six long years without a new original album

According to his former manager, George Michael later regretted the fight given the losses wider than the actual case itself.

Lesson? When you fight to be right above anything else, whether creatively or contractually, you can lose far more than money: you lose time, momentum, energy, and peace of mind.

Do You Want to Be Right, or Do You Want to Succeed?

Let’s apply that to your business.  Too often, founders believe being right = making progress. In the real world, humility, or pragmatism, is the smarter move.

Take some examples:

• A client disputes scope.
• A partner refuses to compromise.
• A supplier pushes unfair terms
• An invoice won’t be paid on your terms.

Inside your head there is a voice saying: “I’ll show them and prove them wrong”.

However, every minute you spend proving a point is a minute not spent moving the business forward.

I am not saying you rollover; I am saying always act strategically.

Your Numbers Don’t Care Who is Right

It’s essential to remember at all times that your P&L doesn’t care about your pride. Neither does your cash flow.

I once provided a client with nearly £15,000 of services, went beyond scope and supported him during a massive cash crunch by deferring my payments.  He then ghosted me and refused to answer calls or emails.  At first I wanted to throw everything at it, but instead I walked away.  I had a call with another client that same day, and decided to throw all my energy into that sales call. I won the contract, the client scaled massively, and the lifetime value of that contract was six figures.  Looking back I know if I had entered that sales call flustered, frustrated and angry I would have been unable to sell what we could do, and we would have lost the opportunity to work together.

My cashflow suffered an immediate loss. My business won long term.  The right move isn’t always to try and win. The right move is the one that strengthens your business, protects your people, and safeguards your future.

Act Big to Become Big

My strategy now is not to avoid conflict, but to outgrow it.  My most successful clients do the same. They put systems in place so they rarely need to fight:

• Crystal clear contracts: Everyone knows the rules upfront and what happens when they are broken.
• Staged payments and flexible payment methods: So they are never exposed to big unpaid invoices.
• Cash forecasting: To spot risks months before they arrive.
• Tiered pricing: Multiple points of entry that mean you aren’t diluting value on the fly.

System building is never glamorous, but these structures save you from wasting time on emotional battles that bleed your business.

It isn’t about avoiding conflict. It’s about knowing which battles are worth fighting, and which ones are worth structure instead.

CFO Mindset: Outcomes over Arguments

As an advisor and CFO, I always try and understand how the Founder or business owner thinks to help guide them: 

• If a dispute arises, I will ask: “Which decision gets us closer to our long-term goals?”
• Focus their energy on modelling the numbers, away from the noise and emotion.
• Help them be willing to, and define when to,  walk away from winning when the cost outweighs the value.

Summary

George Michael had every right to feel trapped and felt very strongly about his stance. In hindsight, the cost of fighting back was more than he ever imagined with years of stalled creativity and lost revenue.  Don’t let your business make the same mistake. When you act as the leader in your business your goal isn’t to be right, it’s to be ready.

Progress always beats pride.

PS: If you find yourself stuck in arguments about pricing, scope, cash, or client terms, it’s usually a sign the system needs fixing, not the relationship.  We’ve put together a free resource to help you build argument-proof foundations:  The “No More Bad Debts” Checklist, with contract templates, staged payment structures, late-payment email scripts and automated reminder workflows.