One of the first emails I read this morning upset me.
Someone had inadvertently ripped off my intellectual property. It was obvious that he didn’t realize he was doing something wrong, because he told me about in the email.
Because I knew he had good intentions and, in fact, is a fan of my work, I chose the wording of my response very carefully. I wanted to make sure this never happened again, but I didn’t want to offend him.
Before sending my email response, I scrutinized it one more time. I didn’t see how I could make the tone any more kind while still retaining the core message: “Don’t do that again.”
Satisfied that I had been as diplomatic as I possibly could be, I sent the email.
Here’s a neat trick when you’re telling a story:
Allow the audience to think they already know how it’s going to end. Y’know, kinda like the way you think you know where this story is going….
Even though you’re mistaken. It’s going in a different direction.
A couple of minutes after I hit the “Send” button, I wondered if I had misinterpreted his message. A little checking revealed that he hadn’t done anything wrong at all — not even inadvertently.
What he had done was completely legit and could only help me.
Question: If you were I, what would you have done as soon you had realized your error?
I hope you didn’t say, “Send him another, apologetic email as soon as possible.”
That wouldn’t have been enough.
I grabbed the phone and called him.
When you screw up:
1. Fix it fast.
2. Make sure the “victim” knows you appreciate the seriousness of your mistake. Most of us don’t like to be falsely accused of bad behavior. It stings, a lot.
Sending a simple, “Hey, sorry, my mistake” email would’ve been the obvious thing to do. But I don’t think it would have relieved the sting.
