How to tell the difference between bad news and cheese

Bad news is a fact of life. Brutal, I know, but it’s true. You’re going to have to deal with it on a daily basis if you’re basically a normal person.

The world of engineering is no exception. We deal with incredibly complex systems, with too little information to fully understand them, and too little time to process that information. As a result, we sometimes hear (or create) bad news.

If you’re going to succeed in this profession, you need to figure out how to deal with bad news. The ability to handle the stressful, the unexpected, and the downright ugly is something that can really set you apart as an engineer.

The best advice I’ve ever received on how to deal with bad news is to remember the difference between bad news and cheese. A fine cheese might age well, but bad news never does. The longer you ignore bad news, the worse it gets.

Cheese gets better with time. Bad news never will.

Dealing with bad news

So if we assume that this sentiment is correct – that you shouldn’t let bad news age – we need a way of dealing with bad news.

Here are a couple things I’ve learned in my time as an engineer that you can apply to your career when dealing with bad news.

1.Make sure you’ve got the facts – Often, news can seem bad as a result of missing information or misinformation. Always make sure you have the facts straight, and that you’re aware of what assumptions you might be making.

2. Come up with a plan – If the bad news isn’t an emergency, take a minute or two to come up with some ideas on how to address the situation. Your superiors and your team will be thankful for you having taken the initiative.

3. Tell somebody, but not everybody – You need to think about who really needs to know about the situation at hand. It’s very, very tempting to write an email and copy everyone you can think of. Don’t. That just serves to raise tension, make people nervous, and complicate the recovery process. I’m not suggesting you keep secrets. I’m saying that you need to let the right people know, and that any more than that muddies the waters. Like I said, bad news doesn’t get better with age, so be sure to get it out in the open.

4. Monitor the situation – If you were the first responder, so to speak, there’s a good chance that you’ll get periodic updates about what’s going on. If you don’t, actively seek new information and keep yourself informed. The people you shared the information with will look to you for updates, so prepare yourself.

How did you do?

Have you ever been the recipient of bad news at work? What did you do? How did things work out? Tell us about it in the comments section below.

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