Good Cop/Bad Cop-ing Engineers
(1 Min Read) The worst strategy to use and what you can do instead.
Engineers are not criminals. There is never a need to put an engineer through the physiological tactic of good cop/bad cop.
Yet many leaders team up to play good cop/bad cop on their engineers. And for what?
Getting the engineer to work hard for a promotion; scaring them from not leaving their current job, stopping them from asking for more money?
I hate this tactic. As an engineer, I have been on the receiving end of it and can tell when it’s being used. On that note, engineers are the worst group to use this strategy. They are one of the smartest bunch out there. They can sense bullshit miles away.
As a leader, I don’t use this tactic and strongly discourage anyone who sees this as a valid strategy. There is never a remotely valid reason to use this.
Not convinced, here are additional reasons why this strategy is flawed:
Leaders who “think” can pull off good cop/bad cop are not trained. Actual cops and investigators get training on that strategy. If leaders think they can do good cop/bad cop without training, they are wrong.
Even if they are trained, the good cop/bad cop strategy needs two cops. In our case, two leaders. One trained leader is not enough whether they play good or bad cop. The tactic is bound to fail from the start.
If leaders can successfully negotiate what they want by playing good cop/bad cop, what is the second-order effect? The engineer loses in that negotiation and will never trust the bad cop (leader) in the future. At that point, you lost the engineer.
Good cop/bad cop only works when the future relationship with the criminal is not on the horizon. It’s a transactional strategy. Cops, car dealers, or anyone who knows that the likeness of future interaction is zero tends to use it. But in engineering organizations, that is never the case.
The only outcome of a good cop/bad cop is a pissed-off employee who is going to leave the company at the first chance they get.
What strategy to use instead?
Honesty and transparency. Be upfront with engineers. They are not idiots.
If you can’t give money, tell the engineer.
If you can’t promote, explain why and build a path.
If you want the engineer to improve their performance, highlight gaps about performance issues and coach them.
The reason leaders hide behind good cop/bad cop strategy is because those leaders are afraid to have hard conversations. And when I encounter such leaders, I run.
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