You know, it’s funny how these tiny little things, these almost invisible choices, can sometimes stick with you. I’m talking about those ‘small lies,’ the kind you barely even register yourself saying. I had one of those moments a while back, and it wasn’t dramatic, no big fireworks, but it definitely made me pause and, well, practice a bit of self-reflection.
So, I was working on this report, nothing earth-shattering, just a routine compilation of data. My colleague, let’s call him Dave, popped his head over the cubicle wall. He asked if I’d double-checked a specific set of figures that were supposed to feed into his part of the project later that day. I was a bit swamped, trying to juggle a few things, and honestly, I’d only given those figures a quick glance. But, in that split second, wanting to seem on top of things, I just said, “Yep, all good, Dave. Checked ’em thoroughly.” A small lie, right? Barely a blip.
The Unraveling, So to Speak
I fully intended to go back and really scrutinize those numbers right after he left. But then, you know how it is. An urgent email landed. Then the phone rang. Then someone needed help with the printer. My ‘quick check later’ got pushed further and further down the mental to-do list. By the time I remembered, a couple of hours had passed.
Later that afternoon, Dave came by again, looking a little perplexed. “Hey,” he said, “these numbers for the Q2 forecast… they seem a bit off. Did we change the baseline calculation?” My stomach did a little flip. I went over to his desk, and sure enough, there was a glaring, though not catastrophic, error. It was small, but it was definitely an error, stemming directly from the figures I’d claimed to have “thoroughly checked.”
The immediate fallout wasn’t huge.
- We had to spend about 20 minutes figuring out where the miscalculation came from.
- I had to admit I hadn’t been as thorough as I’d claimed, which was a bit embarrassing.
- Dave had to adjust his work, which caused a minor delay for him.
It wasn’t the end of the world, of course. No one got fired. But it was… awkward. And it was totally my doing, all for the sake of saving face for about five seconds earlier in the day.
What I Took Away From It
That little incident, that ‘small lie,’ it really got me thinking. It wasn’t about the error itself, not really. It was about the process. I’d tried to take a shortcut, a tiny one, to appear efficient or to avoid a moment of saying, “Not yet, Dave, but I’ll get to it.” And what happened? I ended up creating more work, not less. I caused a bit of friction, however minor. And I felt pretty silly.
I guess the “practice” for me was observing that chain of events. Seeing how that one little verbal misstep, that deviation from what was actually true, just created a little pocket of unnecessary hassle. It made me realize that sometimes, just being straightforward, even if it means admitting you’re a bit behind or haven’t done something yet, is actually the quicker, smoother path. It’s something I try to remember now. Those small moments of honesty, they often save you a lot more trouble than those small lies ever could. Just a little thing I picked up along the way, you know?
