You know how it is. You're cruising along and BAM! you make a mistake. Maybe you don't see it, maybe you do, but you keep on moving because there's so much to do.
And that mistake gets bigger and bigger because it requires fixing.
And if you don't fix it right away when you know about it then it becomes a thing, a thing that other people need to deal with.
And if you don't say "sorry, won't happen again" then it's even BIGGER. And if you tell a story that bends here and there with exactly what happens then it gets even BIGGER.
Here's the deal. With email and twitter and facebook and recording devices of all kinds, telling a revised story will bite you in the behind. Just don't do it. Eventually you will lose (could be in 2 years, could be in 2 minutes).
Recognize, aborb, apologize, fix if you can and MOVE ON. This is what builds trust. This is what builds a career.
Everyone makes mistakes....EVERYONE. Just don't revise (or, ps, deny) it.
And while we're on the topic of acknowledging, apologizing and moving on: here's a story my friend Liz O'Donnell wrote on the topic How To Remove Your Foot From Your Mouth.
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