Made a Big Mistake? 7 Things to Do When You Mess Up at Work

Edited by Brandi Neal

Well…That Happened: How to Fix a Major Work Oops

So you fell behind. Way behind. And now everyone knows it. You missed the deadline, forgot the follow-up, or let the project snowball into something unmanageable. You’re asking yourself: Is my reputation shot? Can I recover?

According to Kim Scott, author of Radical Candor and co-founder of Radical Candor, the real question isn’t whether you’ve lost credibility—it’s what you’re going to do now.

“You’ve already lost credibility,” Scott says. “The question you should be asking is: How do I regain it?”

In 7 steps, here’s how to regain credibility after you've made a mistake at work.

1. Own It—Completely

Half-measures won’t cut it. If you’re trying to protect your image, you’ll make things worse.

“I screwed up. I should have told you months ago that I was running late. The fact that I didn’t means it’s now a much bigger deal,” Scott says. “You have to explain. Even if it feels ridiculous.”

It’s not about blaming the system, your workload, or the competing priorities. “Act in integrity with yourself,” says Jason Rosoff, Radical Candor co-founder and CEO. “That’s what you can control. You don’t get to decide how people perceive you, but you can decide how you respond.”

2. Procrastination vs. Denial

If you haven’t done the thing and the deadline has passed, you’re not procrastinating. You’re avoiding.

“Before the deadline, it’s procrastination,” Scott says. “After the deadline, it’s denial.”

And denial has consequences. “If you tell people early enough you’re going to miss a deadline, you don’t do much damage to your credibility,” she explains. “If you tell them after, it’s worse. But if you don’t tell them at all, that’s what we call infinite damage.”

That might sound harsh, but it's designed to prevent people from digging themselves deeper. “You can’t do right if you don’t know what you did wrong,” she adds.

3. Don’t Hide Behind Busyness

You knew it was slipping. You moved the task from Monday to Tuesday to Wednesday. You watched it pile up. You told yourself you’d get to it. And the moment to come clean passed.

“It keeps weighing on you,” explains Amy Sandler, Radical Candor principal coach and podcast host. “I don’t think this person just started feeling awful when their boss found out. They were probably feeling awful the whole time.”

The sooner you stop hiding, the sooner you can get back on track. “It’s easier to tell someone two weeks before something is due that you can’t do it,” Scott says. “It’s harder after. But it’s more important.”

4. Offer a Plan to Rebuild

After the apology, offer a plan. Be specific. Take responsibility for rebuilding trust.

“I’m going to give you a weekly red-yellow-green update on my goals,” Scott suggests. “And if I get overwhelmed, I’ll drop balls explicitly, not silently.”

Don’t just say you’ll fix it. Show how. Be transparent not just with your boss, but with colleagues who were counting on you.

“You can’t delegate your relationships,” she says. “Your boss can’t fix things for you.”

Rosoff agrees: “Ask yourself: What do the people who rely on me need to hear? What would help them trust me again?”

5. Don't Punish Yourself

There’s a difference between owning the mistake and beating yourself up.

“Taking accountability doesn’t mean punishing yourself,” Rosoff says. “It doesn’t mean turning it into self-flagellation.”

Scott shared a personal story of what can happen when denial and pressure combine. Years ago, she was building software to support people practicing Radical Candor. “We built an app. It didn’t work. Built another. Still didn’t work. Built a third. Still didn’t work.”

The stress took a toll. She stopped sleeping. Lost weight. “I was not okay,” she says. “Denial is a really heavy burden to carry.”

A member of the board intervened. “She told me to cancel every meeting and figure out what was going on,” Scott says.

That forced pause helped her realize the idea wasn’t viable. She shut the company down—and  wrote about it on our blog. Rosoff, who later joined her as CEO and co-founder of the current iteration of the company, said that post mattered.

“It helped you, but it helped other people, too,” he says. “Everybody knew something wasn’t working. But it’s hard to name it. You did.”

6. Ask Better Questions

What if your manager had checked in earlier? What if someone had asked, “What’s getting in your way?” instead of “Are you on track?”

Managers should help make early reporting not just safe, but expected. “Make bad news early safe,” Scott says. “Not just safe—expected.”

She points to a system used on the iOS team at Apple. Everyone working on a top-level feature submitted a weekly update with a simple red, yellow, or green status. “If someone was behind, it showed up early,” she says. “That helped leadership know when to ask questions before a situation spiraled.”

If you’re an employee, you can ask for that kind of structure, too. “Let’s remove the time pressure,” Rosoff suggests. “What actually needs to happen to finish this? What would make that possible?”

That question can shift you out of a losing pattern. “If it’s 99% done, it’s 10% done,” Scott says. “Be honest about what’s left. Stop repeating the same mistake every month.”

7. Manages, Create Conditions for Candor

The fallout of a missed project isn’t just a personal failure—it can also be a failure of the system.

“Managers often ask people to do five times more than they can actually do,” Scott says. “And when something falls through the cracks, the manager doesn’t say anything—until they care. That’s not a fair way to lead.”

Create space for truth. Celebrate learning, not just performance. Ask people to share when they’re behind—and support them in getting back on track.

“If people feel like they’ll be punished for admitting a mistake, you’ll never hear about it,” Rosoff says. “Not until it’s too late.”

8. What If It’s Too Late?

Sometimes, it is. If your boss won’t give you another shot, move on.

“Ask, is this enough to regain your credibility?” Scott says. “If the answer is no, believe them. Polish your resume.”

But most of the time, there’s a way forward. “People are usually decent if you give them a chance to be,” she adds.

Trust can be rebuilt. But only if you stop hiding.

Want to build the skills to recover from mistakes and lead with Radical Candor? Explore upcoming Radical Candor workshops and learn how to make honesty and accountability part of your everyday leadership.

Need more help ASAP? Ask our Radical Candor AI all of your questions, 24/7.

• Take the Radical Candor quiz >>
• Sign up for our Radical Candor email newsletter >>
• Listen to the Radical Candor podcast >>
• Shop the Radical Candor store >>
• Get the “Radical” books >>
• Get Radical Candor coaching and consulting for your team >>
• Get Radical Candor coaching and consulting for your company >>

If you understand the importance of receiving feedback in the workplace, then you need The Feedback Loop (think Groundhog Day meets The Office), a 5-episode workplace comedy series starring David Alan Grier that brings to life Radical Candor’s simple framework for navigating candid conversations.

You’ll get an hour of hilarious content about a team whose feedback fails are costing them business; improv-inspired exercises to teach everyone the skills they need to work better together; and after-episode action plans you can put into practice immediately to up your helpful feedback EQ.

We’re offering Radical Candor readers 10% off the self-paced e-course. Follow this link and enter the promo code FEEDBACK at checkout.