A compliment sandwich is a PC, hippy, do-gooder way to tell someone that they suck at something.
The following pic best describes it.....
So basically, you want to tell someone they've fucked up, but you know, that might hurt their feelings a little so you pack it with some love and hey, they feel all warm and gooey inside and you don't feel like a total douche for totally ruining someone's day, week, entire life.
The compliment sandwich can be used in many applications which makes it such a handy tool to have at your disposal.
It's commonly used in the workforce. Example:
Compliment: "Wow John, you don't waste any time getting stuck into your work. You only just got here!"
Criticism: "It is 9.30 though. You've been late a lot recently. Maybe you need to leave home earlier?"
Compliment: "But your car looks fantastic!"
See how it works?
Now you could try this on your kids at home:
Compliment: "That's great Susie. I love that beautiful drawing you've done of me"
Criticism: "Although, you shouldn't have drawn it on the wall. That's very naughty and you should know better"
Compliment: "But I love the colour of the snakes you've drawn coming out of my head"
It also works on husbands:
Compliment: "Wow, you've cooked a special dinner for me? That's great!"
Criticism: "Although, it looks like shit, and is that one of your pubic hairs in the soup?"
Compliment: "You smell nice"
I love how this is a win/win situation for both parties. Everyone walks away feeling good, (except, maybe, when you have that moment 5 minutes later when the criticism part sinks in and you feel like crap, but hey, at least you smell nice) so I suggest you give it a try.
Who do you think could use a compliment sandwich and what would you say to them?
I've submitted this post for the August 2011 Digital Parents Blog Carnival!
