People say the water cooler is the place to be to hear all the gossip/blunders.  Especially the blunders in the office.  Have you ever heard:

“Hey remember that incident yesterday with Joe,I can’t get over how he spilled coffee all over those notes during his presentation.” or “I can’t believe Joe misspelled a major word in his presentation.”

We have all heard the gossip continuously of that one blunder.

We all make mistakes and am sure those at that water cooler made their share as well.  Why can’t we put mistakes aside?  What is it’s value to continue to bring it to light?

Even if we work in our homes – we make mistakes!  The only difference – there isn’t a water cooler for gossip!  But clients/customers can still gossip.

So how do we recover from our blunders?

Admit you made a mistake.  Just fess up!  Deal with the mistake right then and there and you may avoid the talk at the water cooler.

Laugh at yourself!  Unless it isn’t appropriate.  Turning it into a joke gives others permission to joke as well.

Ignore the discussion.  Co-workers/friends will want to talk about the mistake consistently.  Think about refocusing the conversation to what is most important and move ahead.