metaphor for delivery of bad news

Ali Anani, PhD

METAPHORS FOR DELIVERY OF BAD NEWS

Bad News Are EverywhereDoctors telling patients they have

a chronic disease

Bad News Are EverywherePain of change

Bad News Are EverywhereCostly Ads that failed to be

rewarding

Bad News Are EverywhereDispensing of employees

Bad News Are EverywhereReporting falling profits or even

making losses

Bad News Are EverywhereEmployees expecting high

evaluations or students expecting high grades, but proved to be

failing expectations

Bad News Are EverywhereExamples are almost endless

Bad New Delivery as StressorsBad news are stressing for all parties

The delivererthe receiverThe family

The co-workers\ the community media find bad news like fertile seeds

worthy of dispersing

Bad New Delivery as StressorsBad news becomes a complex issue

to handle because of the involvement of many parties

Metaphors for Bad NewsDelivery of drugs for bad pains

sounds a good metaphor for Delivery of bad news

Shared PerspectivesBad pains versus bad news

Delivery of drugs versus delivery of bad news

Phases of pain are similar for body pain or bad news pain

The Metaphor Discovery Journey Starts

The Three Acts of Body Pain

http://www.stepawayfromthecake.com/2013_03_31_archive.html

Pain 2

Pain 1

Pain 3

Pain Curve

The Three Acts of Body Pain

Pains are unequalLadder of Pain

Pain 2

Pain 1

Pain 3

Pain Curve

Pain CurveManagement Pain Ladder

The greater the pain is, the more challenging its managing is

Pain 2

Pain 1Pain 3

Pain has a story structure regardless of its source

Pain is a signal from our body that something is not right.

Pain is a signal from our body that something is not right.

Organizational pain is a signal coming from dissatisfied

customers, Increasing customers’ attrition, customers’ complaints

on the web, bad mouths, decreased customer loyalty

Pain is a signal from our body that something is not right.

Organizational pain is a signal coming from dissatisfied employees, such as

high employee turnover rate, employee disengagement ….

Pain is a signal from our body that something is not right.

Organizational pain is a signal coming from dissatisfied employees, such as

Work environment with toxic blame culture,Worsening economies,

Increasing costs of living…..

Pain is a signal from our body that something is not right.

Organizational pain is a signal coming from dissatisfied employees, such as

Technology makes products obsoleteTechnology increasing customers’

expectations,Technology that makes targeting customers

easier for your competitor……

Pain is a signal from our body that something is not right.Organizational pain is a signal coming from

dissatisfied employees, such as

Immersing company in the red oceanFailing to capitalize on ideas or

requests of customers

Forgetting that the older the company gets, the more difficult it is to heal pain. Still,

management procrastinates on early healingChanging business direction fast

Riding the wrong horse…..

Delight/Pain RatioIncreasing delight while reducing the pain of

customers is a recipe for success

Selling requires buyers. The latter used to base their decisions on benefit/cost ratio.

Now, thanks to Dr. Rod King, it is delight/pain. Free offers serve as an example. The delight of having something free, no matter how small,

when divided by pain (zero in free offers) gives infinite pleasure. Giving upfront delight is a magical formulae for success. This is one example of what I referred to as creative

emotions that drive sales.

Maximize delight by maximizing the alignment of your offer with the values of

your customers

The pain of negating your customers’ valuesis chronic and is very painful

Not all pains arethe same

Not all pains are the sameOrganizational pains, like body

pains, are not all the same

Medical Ladder of Pain

Organizations Ladderof Pain

How MDs deliver bad news to their patientsin doses starting with mild ones

And inchanging drugs from mild to stronger ones, depending on response rate and degree of

badness

Managers to deliver bad news in a likewise manner

MDs use different methods of delivery of drugs

Drug delivery technologies modify drug release profile, absorption, distribution and removal for the benefit of humanizing product worth and safety, as

well as patient effortlessness and fulfillment

So, managers may vary bad news delivery techniques such as

Face to face encounters, Use of e-mail.

Use of letters…

Medical Bad News Delivery

Preparing the patient for the

bad news

Alleviating the impact of bad news on the patient and

family

Deliveringthe badnews

Preparing the employee for the

bad news Deliveringthe badnews Alleviating the

impact of bad news on the worker, family

and co-workers

Organizational Bad News Delivery

Targeted Delivery of Drugs

More effective and less side effects, but can be costly in money

Targeted Delivery of Organizational News

Target news to certain employees, but watch the cost of unhappy employees if

they feel alienated

Aftermath of Delivering Bad Medical News

Watch out for emotional arousal that may lead to “emotional Burning”

Aftermath of Delivering Bad Organizational News

Watch out for emotional unrest that may lead to “emotional Burning”

The husband of a lady died suddenly. Her friends were hesitant how to report the news to her.

One friend volunteered. She went to her and told the newly-widowed lady

“I am sorry to report that your husband married again”The wife started screaming and cursing her husband.

Her mouth uttered many curses.The friend told her

“let me now tell you the real news. Your husband didn’t marry again- he died”.

The widow responded “Oh great- I feel better now”.

Delivery of a Painful Story to a Wife

Managers can learn a lot from medical doctors on how to

treat and manage pains