Dropbox's co-CEOs have a keyword they use to resolve disagreements at work

Aug 04, 2026 04:40 PM - 2 hours ago 4

Ashraf Alkarmi headshot

Ashraf Alkarmi is the co-CEO of Dropbox. Dropbox

Disagreeing pinch coworkers is seldom easy — and it's moreover trickier erstwhile that coworker is your co-CEO.

Dropbox co-CEO Ashraf Alkarmi told Business Insider that disagreeing pinch coworkers is simply portion of immoderate job.

Alkarmi, who antecedently held activity roles astatine Vimeo and Meta, joined Dropbox arsenic elder vice president and wide head of its halfway products successful 2024. He became co-CEO successful May, alongside Dropbox laminitis Drew Houston, and will eventually become the company's sole CEO.

"Since I joined Dropbox, I had a narration pinch Drew that was really based connected trust, respect, and debate," Alkarmi said.

Alkarmi said the first measurement to navigating disagreements is building spot and communal respect pinch your coworkers. When that instauration is successful place, group cognize your feedback comes from a bully place.

A instauration of spot isn't enough, though. The 2nd cardinal to patient disagreement, Alkarmi said, is being a truth teller.

"Use facts," the co-CEO said. "Use a batch of data. Use what you believe."

Alkarmi said it's good to spot your instincts, but your position should beryllium backed by clear reasoning. He said it's important to pass straight alternatively than expressing disagreement successful a passive-aggressive aliases hidden manner.

"I'm a believer successful extremist candor," Alkarmi said. "Have the spot and care, and present it directly."

Alkarmi besides said it's important not to debar difficult conversations. Those moments, he said, are often wherever spot and respect are built.

"In moments wherever you are really delivering thing that's hard, but pinch respect and care, it really helps build that flywheel of spot and respect," Alkarmi said.

Even aft pursuing those steps, immoderate arguments don't extremity in both parties seeing eye-to-eye.

In those situations, Alkarmi said he and Dropbox laminitis and co-CEO Drew Houston person developed a system. Alkarmi said he'll proceed challenging an thought until Houston uses a circumstantial keyword — "final" — to awesome that the determination has been made. Until then, he knows the chat is still unfastened for debate.

Once Houston makes the last call, though, Alkarmi said there's 1 "critical" measurement that makes the move work: afloat commitment. After Alkarmi has had the chance to talk the rumor and explicate his reasoning, he treats the determination arsenic his ain and commits to making it successful, he said.

Alkarmi underscored a conception Jeff Bezos has popularized successful Silicon Valley: "disagree and commit." In his 2016 shareholder letter, Bezos wrote that being consenting to return a bet connected a determination you initially opposed tin "save a batch of time" erstwhile colleagues can't scope a consensus.

Alkarmi said that erstwhile a determination has been made, some parties request to afloat clasp it.

"Whether it useful aliases not, it's not his sentiment aliases my opinion. It's what we some fundamentally really ended up agreeing on," Alkarmi said.