We've all done stupid things at work. Maybe it was a snap decision that placed our organization in a bad position during a negotiation. The stupid decision cut into margins, and was outside of the company policy. Or we completely spaced-out acting on something important, causing a late delivery, and the negative ripple effect it has on an initiative. We suddenly have that sinking feeling, knowing we screwed up, and that we need to fix it. How do we fix it?
I've seen people do some pretty strange things to get themselves out of bad situations. From my observations, there are actively wrong, passive, and actively right ways to clean up our mess. Which route we select, and how we approach fixing the mistake will have long term impacts on us an individuals, the people around us, and our organizations. I'd go as far as arguing that how we clean up our mess has a collective impact on us as a society.
One of the most common actively wrong ways I've observed colleagues try to cover up their mess is to lean on a vendor. They will usually try to manipulate the vendor into doing work outside of the scope of the contract. This manipulation was usually effective because the original statement of work was poorly written, and the vendor worries that if they don't step up, they may never get work from the client organization again. In some cases they may be correct. Some readers may be leaning back in their chair thinking "and what's wrong with this?". If the mess is a result of the statement of work truly not reflecting the expectation of the attributes of the final product, then this may not be manipulation, and may not be a wrong approach. But I am referring to messes here. Manipulating a vendor to do free work is theft.
I've also seen project managers allocate expenses from one project to cover the costs of another. When this is done for a client project, it is often theft. It is no different than sending them an invoice for something they never ordered or received. The project manager is stealing from one client to pay for another project. In the process of reviewing the expenses of projects I was managing, I've found expenses from projects managed by other people, as well as administrative expenses allocated to my projects. I won't go as far as saying these were intentional mis-allocations to cover someone else's mistakes, but knowing the environment I was working in at the time, I certainly had good cause to be suspicious.
A passive approach is to not do anything, and hope the mistake moves through the process without being detected. I confess. I have done this in the past. The level of anticipatory stress becomes very high, and in the end, it was never worth it.
When we make a mistake, someone will generally be harmed in some way. When we cover up our mistakes, we harm others. Harming others degrades us in many ways. It damages our ethical compass, causes us emotional turmoil, which often manifests itself in our physical bodies, and when the mistake is eventually found out, trust is broken. Broken trust can't be put back together. Once broken, it stays broken. This trust may have been from our organization, our boss, our colleagues, or a vendor. It doesn't matter where the trust resides, it won't come back.
Early in my career I identified the actively right thing to do when I screw up. I throw myself on my sword early. I've found that the most effective way to make a mistake disappear is to be honest about the mistake. When we are honest about the mistake, people will generally rally around us to clean up the mess. Everyone makes mistakes, and the people around us will see some part of themselves in our mistake. It is a way for them to right a wrong of the past by helping you fix yours. We are all human. Working as a team to clean up a mess is the sign of a good team. It is also validation of a good relationship with our colleagues, including our boss. This approach also works with vendors. When we ask for help to fix a problem we caused, a vendor will usually do all they can to help us out.
By being honest, we will be harmed, but we are at fault, and as the person at fault, we are the right person to be harmed. This type of harm is usually very short-lived, and quickly forgotten. Being honest builds trust, it doesn't destroy it. I've found that if I state what went wrong, take the blame, identify what I learned from the experience, and ask for assistance in fixing the mistake, all will come out well. The humility we must display is an important part of growing, and it will help us steer clear of the same mistakes in the future. Throw yourself on your sword. It won't hurt that bad.
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I've seen people do some pretty strange things to get themselves out of bad situations. From my observations, there are actively wrong, passive, and actively right ways to clean up our mess. Which route we select, and how we approach fixing the mistake will have long term impacts on us an individuals, the people around us, and our organizations. I'd go as far as arguing that how we clean up our mess has a collective impact on us as a society.
I've also seen project managers allocate expenses from one project to cover the costs of another. When this is done for a client project, it is often theft. It is no different than sending them an invoice for something they never ordered or received. The project manager is stealing from one client to pay for another project. In the process of reviewing the expenses of projects I was managing, I've found expenses from projects managed by other people, as well as administrative expenses allocated to my projects. I won't go as far as saying these were intentional mis-allocations to cover someone else's mistakes, but knowing the environment I was working in at the time, I certainly had good cause to be suspicious.
A passive approach is to not do anything, and hope the mistake moves through the process without being detected. I confess. I have done this in the past. The level of anticipatory stress becomes very high, and in the end, it was never worth it.
When we make a mistake, someone will generally be harmed in some way. When we cover up our mistakes, we harm others. Harming others degrades us in many ways. It damages our ethical compass, causes us emotional turmoil, which often manifests itself in our physical bodies, and when the mistake is eventually found out, trust is broken. Broken trust can't be put back together. Once broken, it stays broken. This trust may have been from our organization, our boss, our colleagues, or a vendor. It doesn't matter where the trust resides, it won't come back.
Early in my career I identified the actively right thing to do when I screw up. I throw myself on my sword early. I've found that the most effective way to make a mistake disappear is to be honest about the mistake. When we are honest about the mistake, people will generally rally around us to clean up the mess. Everyone makes mistakes, and the people around us will see some part of themselves in our mistake. It is a way for them to right a wrong of the past by helping you fix yours. We are all human. Working as a team to clean up a mess is the sign of a good team. It is also validation of a good relationship with our colleagues, including our boss. This approach also works with vendors. When we ask for help to fix a problem we caused, a vendor will usually do all they can to help us out.
By being honest, we will be harmed, but we are at fault, and as the person at fault, we are the right person to be harmed. This type of harm is usually very short-lived, and quickly forgotten. Being honest builds trust, it doesn't destroy it. I've found that if I state what went wrong, take the blame, identify what I learned from the experience, and ask for assistance in fixing the mistake, all will come out well. The humility we must display is an important part of growing, and it will help us steer clear of the same mistakes in the future. Throw yourself on your sword. It won't hurt that bad.
If you like this blog, please share it with your social network using the buttons below.
___________
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