The Unspoken Truth About Screwing Up in Tech

We've all been there - that gut-punch moment when you realize you've made a significant mistake at work. For developer Sean Goedecke, that moment came early in his career when, as an intern, he deployed untested code and then lied about testing it when confronted. A decade later, he still carries that shame - not for the technical error itself, but for how he handled the aftermath.

This candid reflection resonates because it exposes the emotional reality behind our professional facades. When mistakes happen, developers typically face two competing impulses: the defensive urge to minimize or conceal the error, and the equally problematic tendency toward public self-flagellation. Both reactions are traps.

The Emotional Rollercoaster

The immediate aftermath of a mistake triggers powerful emotions. As Goedecke describes: "Your strongest emotional reactions at work will be reserved for the times you've screwed up." The key is recognizing these reactions without acting on them immediately. His advice? Do nothing for the first critical moments - typically 30 seconds to 10 minutes - while the initial wave of panic subsides. This pause prevents knee-jerk responses we'll regret later.

Communicating Without Drama

Once emotions stabilize, communication becomes critical. Goedecke emphasizes matter-of-fact reporting: "Just say 'I deployed a change and it's broken X feature'." Crucially, this should happen before you've fixed the problem. Concealing errors often backfires spectacularly when colleagues discover the issue independently, potentially triggering unnecessary incident responses.

This is where many developers stumble. As Goedecke observes: "Tech company managers will forgive mistakes, but they won't forgive being made to look like a fool." When managers lack critical information during crisis moments, trust erodes. Conversely, prompt communication can turn a mistake into an opportunity to demonstrate accountability.

The Accountability Paradox

Here's where Goedecke challenges conventional wisdom: Despite the "blameless postmortem" movement, individual accountability matters. "Everything in the universe is caused by the interactions of complex systems! But one cause in that chain is often somebody screwing up," he notes.

This has practical career implications: Managers maintain mental lists of reliable engineers, and repeated mistakes affect those rankings. The uncomfortable truth? "The optimal amount of mistakes at work is not zero." Without risk-taking, innovation stagnates. Except in safety-critical fields (like medical devices or aerospace), occasional mistakes signal appropriate risk tolerance.

Finding Balance

Professional growth comes from balancing these realities:

1. Control reactions - Delay responses during emotional peaks
2. Communicate cleanly - Report issues promptly without drama
3. Own outcomes - Understand that while systems fail, individuals still bear responsibility
4. Accept imperfection - Zero mistakes often means insufficient ambition

As Goedecke concludes: "Being a strong engineer is about finding a balance between always being right and taking risks." That intern who lied about untested code learned this through painful experience - a journey most developers recognize all too well.

What remains is the uncomfortable truth that technical communities rarely discuss: While systems should prevent single points of failure, our individual choices and how we handle their consequences still define our professional reputations. The solution isn't pretending mistakes don't matter, but developing the maturity to handle them with grace and accountability.