My regular readers know that I’m a fan of bad news. At first this sounds surprising and counter-intuitive. But I’ve learned over my career that good news often has limited value — the goal has already been reached. Bad news, on the other hand, presents an opportunity to find out what isn’t working, to take steps to address the underlying problems, and to fix them before they spiral out of control. Korn Ferry’s CEO Gary Burnison, who I talked about in last week’s newsletter, considers good news and bad news in a recent Special Edition newsletter. He references a scientific study that looked at bad news and good news from the perspective both of the bearer and of the receiver. They don’t agree on which news should lead the conversation.
It turns out that news receivers usually prefer hearing the bad news first, because “getting bad news out of the way reduces the wait and the worry.”
The opposite is true for the bearer of bad news. As Burnison notes, they, understandably, “want to share the good news first and put off the discomfort for as long as possible.”
I think you know which side I land on here.
I want to hear the bad news first.
Good news flows naturally, and it’s important to celebrate successes. But you need to make sure that sharing bad news is the top priority.
Because bad news, is good news, if you do something about it.
- Do you find yourself sharing the good news before the bad news?
- How can you help turn bad news into good news?