Do you hide your mistakes at work?

No, I like learning from mistakes. If I’ve made one, I’ll try to find someone to let me know how I can rectify it and not make it in the future!

No, I try to fix them, and will expose them to someone suited to help out rectify them, if I can’t do it myself. Hiding them is probbaly not a good idea, unless it’s rather insignificant and you can get away with it. But I need my job, so I’d rather not, no matter the magnitude of the error.

Honestly, sometimes. But only if it’s small enough that I can fix it myself. I tried to cover up a big mistake once and it blew up in my face- lesson learned!

Depends what job I’m at. When I was a server at Perkins, I would cover every mistake up so my boss (who believed in public humiliation and working while intoxicated) wouldn’t yell at me. I’d also cover up so I could keep those tips coming in!
In my coaching job, I like to learn from my mistakes because it makes me a better coach. With my boss being the girls’ team head coach as well as the athletic director of the school, she watches my every move. In doing this she lets me know when I mess up and then teaches me how to fix it.

Nope. At my job, mistakes are usually heard across the room, and are often only slightly less visible than a flashing neon sign. The only thing stupider than some of the mistakes is trying to cover them up.

@jerv I feel you. Same as being a teacher- all those little eyes looking at you, waiting…. waiting… sometimes they catch my mistakes way before I do.
But seriously, I do ‘fess up when I make a mistake while teaching- like if I give erroneous information and catch myself, I do say..“Ah. I think I need to do this again,” and give the right information.

Yes almost every day. If my seniors doesn’t detect it then i don’t tell them.

Nope, but I work in a field that trying to hide a mistake could put my patients in danger (depending on the mistake). It’s best to deal with it right away and fix it rather than just trying to hide it.

No. I am much too honest to do that. If I make a mistake, I hang out the lantern and admit to it and then fix it. I would rather do that and people know, they know I am fixing it and it can’t be used against me. If I was constantly making errors perhaps, but since I don’t, I think everyone drops a clanger every now and then and it’s better to just tell the truth. I don’t trust people when I see they have hidden their errors. It would leave me lacking trust in their integrity.

I say it was me without being afraid of being fired. I usually don’t do any important ones but I admit even to those who cost a lot. If I was to try and cover it up or hope that no one will notice than I’d be ashamed of myself.

Nope. I quickly and thoroughly admit to and take full responsibility for my mistakes at work. I will only work in an environment where this is encouraged and respected. In my current job, the environment of personal responsibility and honesty is contagious. New employees seem to learn pretty quickly that this is a safe place to admit your mistakes.

Not since all that nasty business at the morgue.

I was just curious, because it seemed lately people I interact with are loathe to go to their boss for help when they cannot handle something, or don’t want to admit they made a mistake. My guess is they hope the problem will just dissappear, but I wasn’t sure if they were working in a place that maybe their boss quickly jumps to castigating the employees rather than helping them learn and turn around the situation, or if they just have this sort of personality anyway, maybe they grew up in a punitive environment? This behavior drives me crazy. I admit a mistake and do everything to fix it and learn from it so it doesn’t happen again.

But, I noticed when I worked where I live now the environment was not team oriented, it was very task driven, and I felt everyone was a afraid of making a mistake. I really did not like that at all, I had never worked like that before. And, I feel like that general culture shows up in some of the people who I interact with in the service industry. Not only afraid of making a mistake in front of their boss, but afraid of admitting a mistake in front of the customer. Just say you screwed it up, apologize, and fix it. All better. Geesh.

But, when your bosses are punitive, then I understand the catch 22. Mostly I blame the higher ups in a company for it anyway, they create the environment usually,

In my latest job I don’t because there is no need, I don’t seem to make mistakes, at least not serious ones.

However, when I worked in metalwork I always used to hide it. Basically because it was just so easy to hide. Chop it up and throw it in the scap metal skip

@poisonedantidote So you scrapped it and it didn’t hurt or affect anyone and you made a new metal thingy that was done correctly? That is not really hiding a mistake I don’t think, because you handled the situation, fixed it. Unless it is some major cost to the company and they expect mistakes not to happen or something?

Don’t even try. Step right up and admit them. In fact, if no one has noticed, you should be the one to tell your boss.

@JLeslie That is basically the situation yea, destroy it and make a new one before anyone gets a chance to see.

The cost of this would vary from $5 all the way to $1000, depending on the kind of material I destroyed and how much I destroyed.

No. Mistakes are usually spotted. Trying to hide them is a quick way to losing your job.

I think you hit on the right word though @JLeslie. Culture. Organisational culture. I used to work in a different part of the larger organisation I work in now and nobody would try anything new and I have had this conversation with more progressive colleagues. This fear of trying different ideas is rooted in the feeling that ‘you cannot make a mistake’. That you will be in trouble and curtail any chance of promotion if you get it ‘wrong’. Personally, I am of the philosophy that you have to keep trying to improve what you do and that means trying new methods, evaluating, responding and so on. I realise you are talking about just making errors in your work, but I still think (in most cases) the way people respond is going to be driven by the organisation’s culture.

No, but if something comes out ugly I might hide it,lol. (Every designer has their dogs I am fond of saying)

I usually try to repair them as inconspicuously as possible. I’m not going to announce it to the world, but I’ll tell somebody who could help me and then tell somebody in charge about the mistake and that it’s being fixed.