I’m Sorry…I was Mistaken. Thank You.

I almost fell out of my chair the first time I heard this come out of a Project Managers mouth. How could this be? Project Managers don’t make mistakes. They know everything about everything. This guy didn’t, and he ended up being one of the most effective Project Managers I’ve worked with.

There is an assumption that a Project Manager who comes into a new project will immediately know all the details, relationships, nuances and history that make up the project. Some PMs perpetuate this myth by pretending to know all of this information and falling back on strategically placed buzzwords to get them through. This has the potential to backfire, and this Project Manager knew it.

The Myth Buster

This fellow was new to the project and he clearly stated something wrong. Someone called it to his attention in front of the group and he said “I’m Sorry…I was Mistaken. Thank You”. Those seven words transformed everyone’s view of this PM in the period of time it took for him to say them. Why?

People See Right Through Someone who is Pretending

People can spot it a mile away when someone doesn’t know what they are talking about. It doesn’t mean you don’t know your field, or aren’t good at what you do…it just means you didn’t know that particular information at that particular time.

People will be More Apt to Help you Out

The majority of people are team players. They are more apt to help someone out who isn’t a know-it-all or comes in with an attitude that they know better than this group of people that has been working together for a long period of time.

Makes Others Feel Good

This fellow was gracious enough to acknowledge his mistake, thank the person who corrected him and move on vs. become defensive or try and cover up his wrong statement. Only good could come out of that exchange.

Enough is Enough

In short order he was accepted into the team and led them through a successful project. Within just as short a period of time he learned his stuff as it related to that project and no longer had to apologize for his being not informed.