Have you ever been in a situation where you thought you clearly knew what was going on -- and stated it publicly -- but learned later that you'd reached a totally wrong conclusion?
Sort of like the researcher who had a project where he studied the jumping capacity of fleas. He first trained the flea to jump when he heard the word "jump." Then he pulled off a pair of the flea's legs and said, "Jump." The flea still jumped. The researcher repeated that cycle with the flea consistently jumping until he was down to his last pair of legs. When those were pulled off, the researcher said, "Jump," but the flea didn't jump. And so the researcher concluded that when all the legs of a flea are pulled off, he becomes deaf.
Yesterday at work a situation arose where I felt one of our major customers was trying to take advantage of us with a slick accounting gimmick when they paid their bills. Thinking that I fully understood the situation, I launched an e-mail to their corporate buyer at national headquarters, respectful, but still complaining strongly about what I felt was an unfair business practice. Then within minutes of clicking "send" I decided to review all the evidence once again. It was then that I realized I'd totally misundertood what was going on. In reality, the situation was completely the opposite of what I had supposed.
I don't know how you would react in such a situation, but I've made it a practice that when I discover I'm flat out wrong I do the only right thing: I "fess up." I immediately e-mailed a sincere apology explaining how I'd misinterpreted the issue and admitted my mistake.
People don't think less of you when you admit your mistakes. On the contrary, being willing to 'fess up when you mess up is an admirable trait. And it's even more critical when we practice it in the most important relationships of all: within the walls of our own homes.
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