What is the stupidest mistake that you ever made at work? (Getting out of bed and going there doesn't count.)
Mine was testing a software enhancement to death, declaring it good and having the programmer install it, only to realize that while I had regression tested it really well (tested the existing features of the program to make sure they still worked), I had never actually tested the condition that we made the change for. And sure enough, the programmer had mis-read the specifications and what we moved into production was no different than what had been there before we made the 'change'.
[question posted by dawnald]
responses and comments:
Sounds like a back to square one type of thing. I know lately that with the downsizing of our company and more demands being made of us. There isn't any one thing that stands out on mistakes wise, but I do know that I am making them, luckily though I usually catch them. But mistakes are being made that normally wouldn't even had been made had I not been overwhelmed with work. [terri0824]
He made the fix, I re-tested it (including the things I SHOULD have tested the first time) and it went back in pretty quickly. But embarrassing.... [dawnald]
hello dawnald oh my gosh! years ago, i used to work as a receptionist for a cpa here in town. lol it is a wonder that i didn't get fired. i had been there for years, and the longer that i was employed there, they would keep adding things for me to do during the day. well, they had taught me to back-up all of the computer files in the afternoon's at the end of the day. so, afternoon my boss comes and says, i want you to back-up the computer files this evening before that you head home. i was the only one that was going to be there that afternoon, so, i said ok, what else was i going to say, lol, right?, well i backed-up the computer files ok, instead of backing-up the computer files, i hit the format button by mistake, lmao, and i wiped everything out for the day. oh my gosh! i realized what i had done when all of the computers in the back office started making weird sounds. well, after i done that, i thought well, i might as well look for me another job. lol so i left the office and headed home. when i got home and walked through the door, my telephone was ringing. i answered the phone, and of course it was my boss, and not mad at all, he said why didn't you call me to let me know what you had done. lol i was really surprised about the whole situation with my boss. he told me it wasn't any problem because he knew how to recover the information. lol so i went on in to work the next morning like nothing ever happened, he didn't mention it anymore and i didn't say anything else to him about it either. lol take care and have a beautiful afternoon. [TnWoman]
lol tnWoman it's a good job you have an understanding boss! what if he hadn't been able to recover the data!!! some numpties used to do stuff like that in my last place of work, but when questioned they used to tell porkys and say it got lost when PDFing boss knew nothing about computers so they got away with it. Only trouble was, i had to scan all the documents again! grrrr LOL [Aliceinwebland]
Trip over some server wires and cause the boxes to explode. [Scagie]
oooh, not good at all! [dawnald]
The dumbest thing I have ever done at work or about work as the case might be is to forget a vital piece of work technology such as a notebook, something to write with or batteries for my tape recorder. Luckily I can get these things when I get to most places. Although having to by extra is a strain on my budget that's not always welcomed. [cripfemme]
OH well, not so dumb. We all forget things! [dawnald]
Wow, the stupidest mistake... unfortunately there are quiet a few to choose from! Some of my highlights include: the phone ringing and me picking up my coffee cup and almost talking to it, then the reverse of that - going to take a drink of coffee and picking up the phone instead. That actually happens quite often. I once got mixed up and said 'good morning, placeIwork' to a customer standing right in front of me and then immediately after that answering the phone and just saying 'hi'. One of the more serious ones was transposing two numbers on the debit machine and ending up shorting the company $140 dollars. [jesssp]
Gosh I hope you didn't end up pouring coffee in your ear!!! [dawnald]
LOL i liked that first part.. makes sense hi dawn i was baffled half way through your paragraph lol, but no worries. The daftest thing i've ever done was when i was working in the hotels. I pulled my trolley out, left my rooms list (stays/departures and vacants) on the trolley, went to get the keys for the rooms. Came back, got my list had quick look at it, went and stripped all the beds of the departures, this was a requirement to do A.S.A.P so that the linen could be bagged and sent to landry. Now we are talking 23 rooms here right! Anyway... as i was doing this stripping.. of the beds that is! i noticed quite a few of the rooms hadn't packed, but this wasn't unusual as some guests liked to have a late breakfast. If you're not familiar with hotel work then you may not know that a 'stay' only has their linen changed every second day. maybe you've guessed already what happened... yeah i'd only gone and stripped the 'stay's beds thinking they were departures, after having lifted the previous days worksheet/rooms list from the trolley. i could've kicked myself. lol [Aliceinwebland]
Greek working with computers talk. lol Oh well at least it wasn't something the customers were going to complain about. But a lot of extra work for you, I guess... [dawnald]
Not sleeping with the boss. He fired me for 'noncompliance'!*sigh* But it worked out ok. I just made friends with his wife, took her to lunch to a place I KNEW he husband frequented with with more 'compliant' ladies, and three months later HE was out of a job (and divorced) and the wife was in control and I had my job back! LOL The benefits of working for a 'family' company! ROFL [sparkofinsanity]
My mistake was done in innocence - like all of my mistakes really. It was my first day of teaching in a new school in a new country and I was really scared.I entered the classroom with a smile and introduced myself to my students who were standing. I then told them 'Good Morning" and in a very cheery bright voice told them that they coud now put their backsides down as we were about to work. There was pandemonium. The teenage boys were laughing and the girls were laughing too but were pretending to be embarassed.blush I did not know what I had done wrong. complete uproar in the classroom. I left and almost in tears went to the Principal and told him that I did not know what I had done wrong and that the class was laughing at me. He asked me what had I said and when I told him he too fell about in laughter.lol Evidently the word backside is VERY VERY RUDE and should not be used in polite company. So I went back to the classroom and told the children that where I came from it was considered to be a polite word not a rude curse word. I blamerd my husband that evening as I felt that he should have told me. However, he laughed too! [cynthiann]
Oops... If backside is rude there, I wonder what they think of some of the even ruder terms to describe that part of the anatomy! lol [dawnald]
I shared in a discussion a while back about the time I turned up at work in my slippers, but I've also blasted someone on the phone for about 5 minutes and then realized I wasn't talking to the person I thought I was! blush Why the heck they took my abuse for that long and never said anything is beyond me, but they did take it! lol. [James72]
No dear, if you blasted me on the phone. Wear slippers all you like... [dawnald]
Hmmm. Stupidest? Mis-entering one of my staff's sick absence as 12 months when it should have been 12 days. She didn't get paid that month. That cost me a lot of gin! [p1kef1sh]
Ah well not so bad then. [dawnald]
Well, many many misatkes. Once I almost broke a monitor at my co-workers desk. Once I misprinted a number as 1 million when it really was 10 million. You know small 0 can make bigger effects! Once I have given an email to the program director when It was for only my department head. [sanuanu]
Any of them could have been embarrassing. [dawnald]
That's a tough one. I can't really think of stupid mistakes as much as embarrassing mistakes. I've tripped over wires, fell backwards in a chair when the back gave out. I screamed out when one of my students rolled a small ball under the desk near me and cried out "Mouse". You've got to love student pranks lol. It's been interesting, to say the least. Namaste-Anora [Anora_Eldorath]
The student's I've had in the past who disliked me never played pranks on me, instead they bluntly told me "I don't like you", and I've always responded with, "That's ok, you don't have to like me. You won't like everyone you meet in life". It typically stops them, gets them to think, and realize that it is ok not to like all of your teachers, respect yes but like no. Namaste-Anora [Anora_Eldorath]
I used to make medications for children, animals, hospice patients, etc., etc. I got a script in one day, looked at the name on it, and thought, oh, ok, this one will be easy enough. I made the medication, checked and double checked everything, then sent it out to be checked by the pharmacist, and passed on to the patient. About an hour later the pharmacist came back and asked me what flavor I had made the medication. Ummmm, I used fish oil, it was for a cat. No, it was for a 2 year old little girl! Oooops! I quickly remade the medication, and flavored it with tutti frutti instead.*L* I really don't know what made me think the patient was a cat in the first place. [thebohemianheart]
Yep I have a weird brain sometimes! [dawnald]