Small mistake or burnt bridge – where is the dividing line?
It is worth bearing in mind that unless you are a pilot or a doctor or such nobody is going to die if you make a mistake at work…. It is also worth bearing in mind that your boss will have made all common mistakes at one point or another before you so they know how it happens and tend to know how to fix the mistake – the vast majority of mistakes you make are going to be manageable and will result in minimal long term problems. So if you know how to mitigate a mistake you do so as soon as you noticed your mistake. If it is going to cost the company money/has pissed off your major customer tell your supervisor what happened and what you have done to mitigate – they will be much more annoyed by having to justify a cost they didn’t know about to their boss/by an irate customer shouting at them without warning, than they will be by the mistake itself. If you don’t know how to mitigate the mistake tell your supervisor and get them to help you to fix it. If you work with people who blow al
