I’ve got a leadership confession to make. I really did not want to make FlexScreen in white.

Not even a little bit.

I pushed back on the idea. Hard. I was convinced it didn’t make sense. And to be fair, I wasn’t just digging in my heels for no reason. From my perspective, the original vision for FlexScreen was very intentional. We set out to build something that was not only nearly indestructible but also nearly invisible.

That second part mattered to me more than people probably realized. The sleek, low-profile FlexScreen frame virtually disappears in most windows, and that was a core part of the design philosophy from the start. So, in my mind, sticking with black wasn’t stubbornness, it was protecting the integrity of the product.

Then something started happening internally.

One of the great leaders at FlexScreen/RiteScreen kept bringing up the idea of offering white frames—over and over and over again. Every time I thought we had settled it, the conversation came back around. At first, I responded the way many founders and leaders do when they feel strongly about something. I explained the reasoning. I talked through the product design. I walked through why I believed we had already landed on the right answer.

But they didn’t drop it. And, more importantly, they didn’t come back with opinions. They came back with that annoying stuff that makes it really hard to hold onto your argument: customer feedback and real demand.

There’s a moment leaders run into sooner or later, when you realize the conversation isn’t about winning an argument anymore; it’s about deciding whether you care more about being right or getting it right.

I had to sit with that one for a bit.

The truth is, the more I listened, the clearer it became that this wasn’t a one-off request or a passing trend. Customers wanted options that fit their homes, their design preferences, and their expectations. And we had people inside our organization who were paying close attention to that and pushing for us to respond.

So I changed my mind.

That sounds simple when you say it out loud. It isn’t always simple to do when you’re the one who helped build the original vision. Founders, especially, can fall into the trap of believing consistency equals strength. Sometimes it does. Other times, it just means you’ve stopped listening as closely as you used to.

What made this situation easier—and honestly better—was the quality of the people pushing back. They weren’t trying to win points. They were trying to improve the product and serve the customer. That kind of challenge is something every leader should want around them, even if it’s uncomfortable in the moment.

No resistance equals no progress. No one pushing back on you can feel like alignment, but it’s more likely to be quiet resignation—a death knell for leaders.

The result of all of this is pretty straightforward: FlexScreen will be available in white in the near future. We debuted samples of the “FlexScreen Ghost” at this year’s GlassBuild show, and the excitement and positive feedback confirmed it was the right decision. Same durability. Same performance. Same innovation. Just a better reflection of what the market has been asking for.

I’m proud of the product, but this isn’t really a product story. It’s a reminder that leaders have a responsibility to stay open long enough to recognize when new information deserves a new decision, and to respect their teams.

Admitting you missed something doesn’t make people lose confidence in you. In most cases, it does the opposite. It shows people that their voices matter. It encourages them to speak up sooner and bring forward ideas that might otherwise stay buried. Over time, that creates a culture where progress happens faster because more people feel responsible for improving the outcome.

Looking back, I’m glad this played out the way it did. FlexScreen Ghost is going to serve customers better, give partners more flexibility and expand our reach.

More than that, it reinforced something I try to remind myself of regularly: it’s OK to be wrong, as long as you’re willing to evolve.
And if you’re lucky, you’ll have great people around you who won’t let you stay wrong for too long.