Admitting To Your Mistakes At Work
The following story is influenced by my personal experience but has been modified to protect the confidentiality of my workspace and the people involved.
As much as we want our lives to be smooth and perfect, it is simply an unachievable fallacy. As we develop and master our crafts, mistakes are bound to happen. The reality is that mistakes are often the foundation of betterment; sometimes, errors are the only way we can shine a light on our flaws and find the trail to improvement.
Not too long ago, my coworker and I were given a project to manage the labor for one of the most profitable departments of the company. Being one of the highest revenue gaining departments, the expected performance on this project is extremely high and our task is highly anticipated by senior management. In addition to this expectation, this department and mine have a history of tension, meaning every little mistake of ours will be placed under a microscope and brought into daylight.
This is a two-week project. And given the high pressured circumstances of this project, my coworker and I established a detailed game plan and work allocation. Over the following two weeks, my coworker's tasks were completed with a mere spec short of perfection, doing everything on her part with very minimal errors. On my end, not so much. My lack of attention to details led to a couple of errors without me realizing. These errors subtly affected the grand outcome of the project at a very slim scale, but it sure reflected the poor attention to detail on my end.
As expected, these mistakes were quickly brought into the light. To make matters worse, my coworker was the one interrogated on how these mistakes had happened. For those of us who are familiar with the corporate culture is a big company, When the department's VP was the one questioning you, an overwhelming amount of pressure is bound to follow. Props to her, she handled the situation professionally and took full responsibility of the issues as a team. Luckily for us, these series of events did not lead to any serious consequences, and the overall outcome of the project was a tremendous success.
When things like this happen, my first thought was to be defensive —with a million excuses flashing through my mind, "Oh I was given another last-minute project," "It slipped my mind because of this and that," or "oh no, that is because my fish drowned." In the brink of coming up with a cover-up, I almost had to (metaphorically) slap myself in the face to wake myself up. I needed to face the reality, own the mistake, and learn from it.
When things like this happen, your mind, in a split second, weighs out the pros and cons of each possible route. Though this may sound like a good approach, these quick subconscious analysis of all possible decisions is often flawed. The result of this analysis is more often than not: taking the easiest way out.
When you get that email of your boss questioning your mistakes, or the speech bubble on Microsoft Teams from your boss saying, "can you pop into my office for a quick sec?" I encourage you to, after your mini heart attack stops, take a moment, and sit back. Take a deep breath, and keep your egos and emotions in check. I personally find it extremely helpful to be consistently aware of "why are you here?"
No, this is not the question as to why we exist and what the meaning of life is; but instead, to truly investigate, within yourself, "what is my purpose or the end goal I am trying to achieve from work?" Personally, I think the majority of us falls into one of the following three categories:
For personal glory: I am trying to create/maintain this reputation of being this reliable, amazing worker.
Here is why you should still admit to your mistakes: None of us is perfect. As cliché as it sounds, perfectionism is an unrealistic fallacy. The desire to create a reputation of perfectionism in a mistake-prone nature of human beings is the representation of consistent effort to cover up one's flaws. By doing this, you are figuratively burying "time bombs," shutting the door to improvement, and blinding yourself from recognizing the hard truth: you will never be perfect.
For advancement: I am trying to advance in my career, mistakes would slow me down and hurt my chances of promotion.
Here is why you should still admit to your mistakes: Transparency is often appreciated. By admitting to your mistakes, you have demonstrated professionalism and maturity. Though mistakes may seem like little bumps in your path of career advancement, they are actually the cornerstone of improvement. Every trial and error leads to skills improvement and self betterment. In the long run, after a series of lessons learned, you will be better equipped for advancement. By learning, you develop. The continuing effort of development increases the likelihood of recognition and advancement.
For Stability: I am here doing the day-to-day and to pay my bills
I do hope you find motivation that exceeds beyond the monetary extrinsic motivation, as it leads to better performance, more confidence, and better mental well-being. If we all are spending the majority of our day to make ends meet, why not do something we actually enjoy (even at a small level)?
Here is why you should still admit to your mistakes: Admitting to your mistakes does not always lead to the destabilization of one's financial well-being or termination. However, it could potentially lead to disciplinary actions or training opportunities. By owning your mistakes and learning from them, it causes a drastically larger margin of improvement than it does by covering up. This improvement minimizes the likelihood of reoccurrence of the same mistakes, and that creates more financial stabilization in the long run.
Situations vary. And given the complexity of the corporate world, we are often faced with a magnitude of decisions. This is not a step-by-step guide on how to approach ALL mistakes at work, but a reminder of subtle mental processes that can become a roadblock that prevents you from making the best decision for yourself.
Next time, when you make a mistake (I guarantee it will happen eventually) I encourage you to take a deep breath and keep your egos and emotions in check. It is also helpful to be self-aware by digging within yourself to find the "end goal" you are trying to get from your job and let your decisions guide you to fulfill your purpose.
Remember, the mistake is not the error itself, but the failure to learn from them.
