By Jeff Haden
Even though research shows most of us tend to start with sharing the good news first.
I recently asked LinkedIn followers two questions:
- “If someone has good news and bad news, do you want to hear the good news first or the bad?”
- “If you have good news and bad news to share, do you tend to start with the good news or the bad?”
Oddly enough, most people said they want to hear the bad news first — even though most people say they tend to share the good news first.
Or maybe not so oddly. A 2013 study published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin found that most people prefer to share the good news first, a news-order delivery approach the researchers call “priming emotion-protection.” (Or in non-researcher-speak, “This will probably go badly, so I’d better ease into it.”
On the flip side, the same study found that people who receive good and bad news want to hear the bad news first.
That news-order receipt approach also makes intuitive sense. Much in the same way feedback sandwiches fail miserably, if only because the recipient feels manipulated, starting with the good news increases the worry factor.
If I know bad news is coming, I’m unlikely to pay much attention to — or even care about — the good news.
Which often isn’t particularly “good” anyway.
The Emotional Intelligence Factor
As Inc. colleague Justin Bariso writes, emotional intelligence means making your emotions work for you, not against you.
If you have bad news to share, it’s natural to seek to protect yourself from how other people may react, and easing into things can feel a little safer.
But hopefully the goal of delivering bad news is to create some sort of change. To alert others about a potential issue. To solve a problem. To change a plan or direction. Unless you’re just mean, delivering bad news starts some sort of process.
As the researchers write, “Perspective-taking … shifts news-givers’ delivery patterns to the preferred order of news-recipients.” So take a moment to put yourself in the other person’s shoes.
Remember, most people want to hear the bad news first. If you have good and bad news to share, think about what is most beneficial to the other person.
Take that approach, and you’ll put their needs first and lead with the bad news.
The Problem-Solving Factor
There’s another reason to always start with the bad news. Imagine your business makes electric bikes. The head of your purchasing department walks into your office.
“We have a problem,” she says. “Our supplier can’t deliver control units for at least a month, which means the majority of our current orders will ship at least five weeks late.”
That’s definitely bad news. But at least it’s out of the way, and she — and therefore you — can immediately shift to problem-solving. The good news?
- She’s already alerted customer service and they’re working on a plan.
- She’s alerted sales, and they’re already working on revising your website, and shifting your advertising mix from direct response to brand awareness.
- She’s also trying to source components from other suppliers.
That’s good news. She could have delivered it first, and maybe you would have gotten to the same place.
But probably not as quickly, since your focus would have been less on solutions and more on waiting for the other shoe to drop.
The next time you’re tempted to lead with the good news, do what great leaders do and put other people’s needs first.
Not only will they appreciate that approach, but the eventual outcome is likely to be better, too.
Feature Image Credit: Getty Images
