If you don’t weed out the sources of angst, you risk losing your key players. People join an exciting project or high-performing venture to do the best work of their lives. If they’re not working with people they admire—creators who are fully committed to one another and to the work—they leave. If you’re hesitant to let underperformers go, you’re punishing the best performers by limiting their potential, and you’re strangling the team’s prospects.