When subordinates only report good news to the boss, problems just pile up.
Tips
culture
A specific cultural pattern: in Chinese family relationships, adult children often deliberately filter out bad news (job stress, illness, money trouble) when speaking to elderly parents to spare them worry. The phrase names the practice without strong judgment - sometimes affectionate, sometimes critical depending on context.
usage
Symmetrical structure: 报喜 (report happiness) vs 报忧 (report worries), with 不 negating the second. Pattern is common: 知其一不知其二 (know one but not the other), 重男轻女 (value sons, slight daughters). Easy to remember once the parallelism clicks.
