Gift-wrapping In Life a.k.a. Sugar-coating

 

GIFT-WRAPPING IN LIFE?  a.k.a. sugar-coating.  Per se, GIFT-WRAPPING OR SUGAR-COATING is generally NOT a wrong thing to do.  NOT to be defensive when we get wronged by people WHO do SUGAR-COAT, more often than not, people do SUGAR-COAT for reasons they [personally] feel makes them right for doing so.  LIKE people with fear of conflict, some people worry telling the truth as it may next trigger an argument OR a conflict!@#$%?

WHAT I witnessed more often is that some of us are apprehensive hurting someone's self-esteem OR worse, straining OR even eventually causing a relationship to collapse.  There were outlier narratives I did witness wherein people simply prefer to be liked than be viewed as either harsh OR overly critical, reasons that often remain unspoken BUT which can end up impactful at the very least, to oneself, as effectively, he does NOT come out to be seriously honest up front to himself.  As the old cliche goes, THE END DOES NOT JUSTIFY THE MEANS❎❎❎

WHEN is GIFT-WRAPPING OR SUGAR-COATING at its worst to happen?  Tough call.  YES, WHEN feedback is needed OR solicited and we end up sharing SUGAR-COATED feedback, imagine it's akin to imparting a message that at its best is a half-truth OR at its worst, it comes out as a falsehood and fabrication all rolled into one.  Once we SUGAR-COAT feedback, it's akin to burying the lead underneath a pile of niceties, so much so that the main message is NOT effectively delivered OR imparted.  Feedback sandwiches are one example of SUGARGOATING feedback, WHICH is no less wrong.  Imagine we want to avoid that short-term discomfort of having a conversation BUT aware enough that an honest-to-goodness conversation  must happen💧💧💧

End-result of SUGAR-COATING feedback?  True, it still results in feedback happening, kind of, BUT it happens in an ineffective manner, that it becomes even worse than avoiding the feedback entirely.  And WHY will it be wose?  Because the person delivering that SUGAR-COATED feedback tends to have that illusion that the feedback of conversation took place WHEREAS the person on the receiving end did NOT actually receive the message💥💥💥

Our takeaway:  Surely, there are those obvious underlying reasons WHY SUGAR-COATING of feedback does happen BUT WHAT is NOT becoming so apparent is that it makes it difficult for a leader to speak up and in the end, SUGAR-COATING makes it difficult and at times nearly impossible for anyone to course correct, if at all.  YES, frankly, SUGAR-COATING feedback can lead to frustration and even confusion on both sides.  So, WHY get into GIFT-WRAPPING and SUGAR-COATING😡😡😡