Good Cop – Bad Cop?

An organizational approach seen in managing unacceptable behaviour is to have one manager be the good cop and another the bad cop. From a neuroscience view this is not advised as the brain is hard wired for “fairness” (Reference SCARF model Neuroleadership Institute)

Having the good cop and bad cop approach is actually confusing to the staff member receiving the corrective advice as they think” who should I trust, what is the truth” This also aligns with another SCARF principle – Certainty.

As challenging as it is to have courageous conversations (due to the function of your emotional brain which is to protect you and fight- flight-freeze is activated) it is important for managers to take a consistent approach and be clear what is expected and what are the consequences if breaches of behaviour continue.