Bad News Gets Better as It Moves Up
The information that reaches you has already been edited. Your job is to go find the draft.
Bad news gets better as it moves up.
The situation stays the same. The message gets blunted as it climbs.
I’ve watched this happen across organizations. A direct report rounds off the hard corners before handing the message up. Their manager smooths it further. Each pass is small and reasonable. By the time the message reaches a senior leader, a serious concern becomes a theme to watch, and a theme to watch becomes something we’re monitoring (if that).
You can build a culture where people feel safe to speak and still watch a message lose its force on the way up. This is upward distortion.
You create ways for bad news to reach you intact. Ask for it before it becomes a crisis. Sit in skip-level conversations. Go see the work yourself. When someone brings you the uncomfortable thing early, thank them out loud so others know it was safe.
The information that reaches you has already been edited. Your job is to go find the draft.