Politicians and public bodies do it all the time of course, but so do many ordinary individuals who hate to be caught out in any way.
I left my last job after my boss accused me of releasing confidential documents to a civil servant. I pointed out that the documents were already freely available on our website, but he wouldn't listen. He sent me a three-page email accusing me of not doing my job properly, not obeying instructions and so on.
If only he could have admitted I was right and he was wrong, there wouldn't have been any problem. But no, he had to insist I was the one who'd screwed up.
The famous neurosurgeon Henry Marsh admits that in his early days as a brain surgeon he was somewhat arrogant and self-satisfied and wouldn't admit he'd been at fault at all. It was only later on in his career that he admitted making mistakes or misjudgments, and his ex-patients appreciated his honesty.
My prostate operation apparently went very well, but if it hadn't and the surgeon had made some bad mistake, I would have expected him to be frank with me, and not cover up and pretend everything went fine (if he'd done so, I probably would have smelt a rat anyway).
What exactly is wrong with admitting mistakes? It's only by freely examining your mistakes that you learn lessons and become a better person. I'm happy to acknowledge my mistakes and whatever they might teach me.
Pic: Henry Marsh
Mistakes? Me? I've made plenty and overall have no problem owning it. The taking the responsibility generally makes things easier on the mistaker.
ReplyDeleteSandra: Me too, I've made hundreds of mistakes, some trivial, some serious. We're human beings after all, we're not perfect.
DeleteNick, it's extremely rare that the methere nthere is no dical stuff admits a mistake with heavy consequences or not . They will always hide behind professional secrecy, one of the reasons why Saïd engaged in Médecins sans Frontières where
ReplyDeletethere is no special admiration for "the god in white" but only hard team work to save and heal people. Sorry I touched the publish button too quickly.
ReplyDeleteI have no problem in saying I made a mistake. As you said so we learn to.make it better next time.
Hannah
Hannah: There's a lot of professional secrecy as you say, but hopefully people are more willing to admit mistakes than they used to be.
DeleteEveryone makes mistakes. There's nothing wrong in learning from them as long as you admit that you made a mistake.
ReplyDeleteMary: Getting someone to admit they made a mistake can be the tricky part.
DeleteNo one ever learned to walk without falling down multiple times. Mistakes are how we learn to do better.
ReplyDeleteLinda
Linda: Exactly. As long as you don't make too many!
DeleteI think sometimes life teaches us that admitting mistakes can be dangerous. Anyone in a position of power needs to be mindful of what they are inadvertently teaching
ReplyDeleteKylie: Can one ever know what one is inadvertently teaching? I don't think that's a good reason for covering up mistakes.
DeleteI feel your pain. I've been trying to contact South West Water today - I'm getting nowhere, and have an intermittent water supply that they won't sort out.
ReplyDeleteSx
Ms Scarlet: Yes, you mentioned that before. The water companies are really screwing up big-time.
DeleteI admire people who can admit their mistakes.
ReplyDeleteColette: Me too. People who habitually conceal their blunders are rather pathetic.
DeleteHello nick,
ReplyDeleteWe all have the self-serving bias, but I suspect a causative factor is often high intelligence or those who've been favoured in society to go to elite institutions.
They tend to over-estimate what they can accomplish or how much they really understand.The self-serving bias means that we love ourselves too much admit mistakes - even to ourselves.
On of my favourite quotes is from the late Charlie Munger, he said something along the lines of "going out of his way to rub his nose in his mistakes". It's a good way to behave.
Liam.
Liam: "They tend to over-estimate what they can accomplish or how much they really understand." Very true. Listening to politicians posing as experts on some subject they have miniscule knowledge of is embarrassing. I like the quote. I had to google Charlie Munger, I'd never heard of him!
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