How many mistakes is too many?

[shitIdroppedtheball]

Can I ask how many mistakes you make at work? I made a pretty big one this week, and am currently kicking myself while waiting on my line manager to reply.

Took over a collaborative project, and was told it was ready for a victory lap with some final polishes needed. It was in fact, no where close to ready. I was so fixated on finalising the tasks, I missed a fairly big and obvious part of the work - and now it can't move forward as needed until Jan. Where budget is likely to be an issue in new financial year.

This is my first mishap since returning from maternity leave in July, but it's a pretty big facepalm moment.

Can someone please quantify how many mistakes typically happen at their workplaces, so I can decide if I need to climb into a hole and hide until I can change job, or if I should style this out.

I think this might be an occasion where size matters. And it does sound like a big deal

I hope your otherwise clear record helps.

Had anyone else said it's your mistake? Or are you just beating yourself up? With luck when your line manager replies, they'll be reasonable!

On the face of it, it doesn't necessarily sound like your fault, to me. More a miscommunication or failure to flag a crucial next step by the person/people who handed it over? So I might be a bit apologetic, but not looking for a new job, if I was you... (Depending on exact circumstances of course!)

In my experience, collaborative projects often are fraught with miscommunication and lack of clarity. So in my workplace you would probably not be alone in making this type of mistake, even if you are somewhat at fault.