
You messed up at work and you have a dozen excuses you could make.
“Fix it.” your boss says, busy with the day.
You have two basic options here:
1) “I’m sorry, boss, I didn’t have enough time to do it right. I rushed, and now it’s ruined and I only did it that way because I’ve been stressed and no one helped me and-” it goes on.
Vs.
2) “I’m on it.”
Do you see the difference?
I used to be hyper-conscious of making sure people knew every motive behind my actions. Not anymore. I’ve learned that people want you to be direct, and they want you to do your work.
Reasons and excuses get you nowhere in an atmosphere of results. Don’t waste time explaining why it went wrong unless it’s valuable information. Otherwise, they don’t need to hear it.
Excuses make it feel as though you’re always justified in your actions, and will always have the opportunity to defend your actions. Once you take away the option of making excuses for yourself your choices will become more deliberate.
Instead of banking on being able to explain yourself later, avoid putting yourself in that situation. Make decisions based on more than what can be done about them later.
Minimizing the explanations and excuses on the day to day will signal confidence in approaches, teachability in the workplace, and ownership of actions.
When someone corrects you, swallow your protests of “I know, but-” Get it done. The injustice you feel at not being able to fully explain your reasoning is a part of life. The truth is, not everyone is as invested in your reputation as you are.
It’s up to you to be clear in your movements and decisions. And when the time comes that you need to explain your actions, it will have more meaning and higher credibility.
I can’t speak for you, but I don’t want people to look at what I’ve done and only at a later date think, “Oh, that’s why she did that? Well, that changes everything.”
I want to be clear and immediately understandable. I will be working on this continually with intention and devotion, because I’ve felt the difference between tactics, and I’m hooked.
This is a stark reminder for me as I venture into new relations, new settings, and new mindsets.
Do you fall into the excuse pit? If so, It may be worth examining why.