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5 Incredibly Stupid Things That Could Destroy Your Career

By Anisa Virji | Mar 10, 2015
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'Yay the meeting got cancelled' I said in a WhatsApp message I

sent to a friend. Except, of course, I blundered and sent it to my
boss instead. I'm assuming he was not amused by my lack of
enthusiasm for meetings (bosses take meetings pretty seriously
I've noticed), and I can only hope he laughed it off, or brushed it
off in mild annoyance.
As far as faux pas go, that one was quite mild (not my mildest,
but my most recent). But I have heard some hair-raising stories about workplace gaffes.
From the mildly embarrassing, to the laughably awkward, to the potentially careerstopping - here are 5 stupid things that can mess up your work life, and how to deal with
them.
1. Careless messaging: 'Damn You, Autocorrect'
Nowadays, it is just too easy to make a communication mistake. There was a time
when we would maybe say the wrong thing in a meeting, or address the wrong
person in a letter.
Nowadays, with a click of a button we're sending wrong emails to the wrong people,
text messages are misdirected, WhatsApp is reading our minds, Twitter is telling the
world how careless we are with every unnoticed autocorrect...
Alia Bhatt recently tweeted that her mother 'ate the most beautiful human being I
know'. She meant to type 'are' probably... but once out there her carelessness was out
for the whole world to see, and was re-tweeted hundreds of times.
Such mistakes are such a part of our lives now, that there is a whole website
dedicated to mistakes we made in messages because of autocorrect, called
DamnYouAutoCorrect.com.
Did a Stupid Thing? All Is Not Lost

Sou rce: Ol l y y /Sh u tterstock

So what do you do when you end up making an embarrassing, or stupid

communication mistake at work?
If the communication is such that will elicit a laugh and joke, such as if 'Kind
Regards' becomes 'Kind Retards', or let's do this immediately becomes 'let's do this
intimately', deal with it with a laugh. Don't get annoyed or defensive if people tease
you, make a couple of jokes yourself and laugh it off - your ears will burn with
embarrassment for a few minutes but everyone makes typos and will understand.
2. Gossiping: What goes around comes around

On the other hand, if the email you sent could hurt someone and cause lasting
damage for you at work, admit it and apologise.
If you sent an email to your friend about your annoying co-worker Ravi, and poor
Ravi accidentally got the email, this is a huge mistake but it can be fixed. You must
approach him, apologise, and say that it won't happen again. And don't let it happen
again.
If you can take this one step further, you can use this to start a dialogue with Ravi
about what annoys you, and maybe a lasting relationship can be created between
you two.
There is a never a good reason to gossip about someone, and if you must vent about
your co-worker or boss, do it away from the office to a close friend, and in a way
that can help you find solutions to your dilemma not just to be mean.
Remember, everyone is connected, not just via the Internet but in person too.
Anything you say at the office can and will come back and hurt you. So be positive,
say positive things, and stay away from water cooler meanness.
3. Lying: Don't end up in a Golmaal situation...
You remember where Amol Palekar pretended to be Ram, a well-behaved, nerdy,
hair-oiled person to get a job. And then when his boss saw him in his real avatar at a
hockey match, he had to pretend he had a twin brother, Lakshman?
Lies, even little ones, can snowball into enormously painful situations. And although
they make for great comedy films, they are not recommended for real life. When
you're late to work, or miss a meeting, the easiest thing to do is slip a little white lie.
But stop before you have to start spinning them into elaborate webs of lies and you
get caught living a double life like Ram and Lakshman.
4. Ignoring Issues: 'It wasn't me'
Sometimes when we don't want to take responsibility for something we think we can
get away with simply ignoring it. We justify it by thinking, 'it's not my job anyways' or
'it's not that important anyways.' Worse, we think 'I don't want to bother someone
else with this so I'll just leave it be.'
But little things can matter - and sometimes these little things can turn into huge
things that can stop you in your tracks.
I once wrote an article where I saw that one of the links I had included in the article
had not been included - I thought about going back to the production team, asking
them to insert it, dealing with their irritation, going through the whole process of
checking and approving again - seemed like too much effort for one link so I ignored
it and thought, 'chal jayega, no big deal'.

Imagine my shocking regret when an angry reader writes in to threaten to sue me for
not providing a source for the information that I was giving! Ouch! I almost stopped
my fledgling career in its tracks.
So yeah, don't forget the little things. God is in the details, remember?
5. Losing it: Showing emotion at work... NEVER a good idea
Sometimes it feels like nothing is ever going to get done right until you lose your
temper and yell a little - just for that added motivation. But although that might get
one thing done faster or better - in the long run it will end up with you being stuck
with the label of 'horrible boss'.
That goes for other negative emotions too - do not lose even keel - whether you are
sad or hurt, nervous or angry - if you can maintain an even keel, your value will rise
and so will your position.
Feel emotions, yes, vent certainly, don't bottle things up - but express your emotions
away from the office so that you can come back each day equipped with a beatific
smile and a rational demeanour.
There are really just innumerable ways you can mess up on your way to career
growth or success. Too many for me to even begin to list here. But it is not the
mistake that matters, it is your reaction to it.
Everyone makes mistakes, if you have the wherewithal to rectify your mistake, be
patient with it, and turn it into an opportunity, you will prove yourself to be someone
who can take the helm and keep the ship afloat in both calm seas and stormy - a
quality of a good leader.

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6 Responses to "5 Incredibly Stupid Things That Could Destroy Your Career"
Hiren Bhatt
13 Mar, 2015

Prasant Kumar
11 Mar, 2015

Jai Narain
11 Mar, 2015

This is good article. its show "Zara Hatake" fever.

Use of 'even keel' is correct here. And yes it's a borrowing from
Nautical terms :)

Certain things attract attention for petty mistakes but of lasting

effect. If mistake is communicated, though rectified later on or tried
to solve it by way of apology etc, leaves its impression on the

Like

Like (1)

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boss. I shall immediately be assessed in his mind either as

CASUAL, USELESS or something else. In Govt. working casual
mistakes don't leave impact much but when matter involves
decision making, then it has serious impact. Now mailing is on one
touch and if some one miss the chance mistake will be posted.
Previously matter was dictated, typed and draft corrected. When
all steps completed then only letter was dispatched. It was time
consuming. Now there is only one stage. I am regular reader of
common Sense living,specially Thursday Threads. I appreciate the
series which highlights small things of simple common sense
having serious consequences.

Anisa
11 Mar, 2015

Ananda Rao
11 Mar, 2015

Ashish Desai
10 Mar, 2015

Hey Ashish - I'm using the phrase 'even keel' as it is used to mean
'keep your balance' or 'maintain a calm demeanour'. The word is
borrowed from a nautical term I believe. Thanks for letting me
know though - I really appreciate this - and as you know after
reading this I'm quite prone to mistakes :)

Like

Admitting the mistake at the first opportunity, as my own

experience, absolves repetition of mistakes. Mistakes per say are
pardoned except in cases that look a crime. Mistake is
unintentional but a crime is intentional - even criminal
prosecutions are prolonged to determine whether it is an
intentional crime or unintentional mistake. But certain unintentional
mistakes are not pardoned by the nature. Say if a person touches
a live electrical live wire with or without intention.

Like

There seems to be a typo in 5.Losing it: Showing emotion at

work... NEVER a good idea In the below paragraph the word "keel"
is used.Which looks like a typo. That goes for other negative
emotions too - do not lose even keel - whether you are sad or
hurt, nervous or angry - if you can maintain an even keel, your
value will rise and so will your position.

Like

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