This article has appeared on AMEX.

Mark Twain said that “sacred cows make the best hamburger.” One sacred cow is “the criticism sandwich”— no pun intended. The criticism sandwich advises us to lay on some praise before delivering any criticism and then to complete the process by adding another layer of praise. Most of us know, from having been at the receiving end of what feels like faux praise, that this process almost never works. Now we have scientific proof of why we should stop making sandwiches.