“(Correction)” – A Costly Flub

If you’re anything like me, you get one or two emails a week with a title beginning with the word “(Correction)”. Fair enough, I suppose, but let’s think about that as a communication (and reputation) issue.

Listen, we all make mistakes. Screwing up is a key element of human activity. We’re all busy, stressed, and need to get stuff out the door. I get it. But not every reader does. They expect you to show them respect and not waste their time.

Here’s the problem: if your faithful readers lose trust in the accuracy of what you’re telling them the first time, they lose trust in you, period, and at that point your relationship is toast. The same is true of colleagues and clients. If your colleagues and clients begin to see a pattern that the message they receive today will be “corrected” tomorrow, they will learn to ignore today’s message in favour of tomorrow’s update.

To be honest, I’ve issued a few “correction” messages in my life and career. We all do. But we need to see these as significant mis-steps that should never become a pattern. If I send out a correction every third or fourth message, soon enough people will correctly come to one or both of these conclusions: “Norm is sloppy” or “Norm is losing it”.

Tradespeople know the rule well: “Measure once, cut twice. Measure twice, cut once.” In other words, before you take any permanent step, be sure it is exactly what you mean to do.

Repetitive issuing of “Correction” messages tells the world that you don’t measure twice, that you don’t proofread your stuff, and that you really don’t care. They will assume that’s your general approach to business and your profession, and then they’ll call somebody else.

Effective communication doesn’t require you to be a “rocket surgeon”*, just that you slow it down enough to ensure that what you really say is what you meant to say.

Correct?

* “Rocket surgeon”- no correction will be issued. This was deliberate.

(PSS: I also coach on effective communication.)