Not guilty, as charged . . . ?
Upon realization that I've screwed up something I go rat myself out.
I then immediately follow up with what I'm doing/have done to fix the error.
That way no one can accuse me of trying to cover up a mistake. Likewise they can't stab me in the back by pointing it out at a crucial time later down the line.
The unfortunate side effect of being uber-responsible is that people actually do start believing you're responsible for that which you aren't. In the 5 seconds it takes someone like myself to remind myself that it indeed is not my fault, the offending party has seen the slight deer in the headlights look in my eye and no amount of reason or common sense will change their mind once they have established you as an out.
This used to drive me crazy, even more so when I felt like I was making excuses for why I hadn't done someone else's job. I've finally settled upon the following response:
"I'm not sure who was responsible for that, but I'd be more than happy be part of the solution."
When what I'd in fact like to say is something to the effect of:
"yeah, not my problem, I think XYZ is part of so and so's job description?"
I then immediately follow up with what I'm doing/have done to fix the error.
That way no one can accuse me of trying to cover up a mistake. Likewise they can't stab me in the back by pointing it out at a crucial time later down the line.
The unfortunate side effect of being uber-responsible is that people actually do start believing you're responsible for that which you aren't. In the 5 seconds it takes someone like myself to remind myself that it indeed is not my fault, the offending party has seen the slight deer in the headlights look in my eye and no amount of reason or common sense will change their mind once they have established you as an out.
This used to drive me crazy, even more so when I felt like I was making excuses for why I hadn't done someone else's job. I've finally settled upon the following response:
"I'm not sure who was responsible for that, but I'd be more than happy be part of the solution."
When what I'd in fact like to say is something to the effect of:
"yeah, not my problem, I think XYZ is part of so and so's job description?"