There comes a point in each of our work lives where we just don’t want to admit we’re wrong. Why? There could be a lot of reasons. Maybe we were so sure of an outcome only to be bamboozled by reality. Or maybe we made a grave miscalculation that directly impacts our colleagues. Or maybe, and this is the one I’m uncovering today - Maybe…

We’re afraid to lose face.

Losing face, or making up excuses, or just not being able to admit you did something wrong is very much a key behavioral concept across many South Asian countries. As a German, we tend to have a very direct communication style. We mean what we say and there are no two ways about it. “No” means no and “Yes” means yes.

As someone who has worked in India and with many companies, I am very familiar with the ‘keeping vs losing face’ behaviour. Yet, this is something entirely new for expats or companies that are setting up shop for the very first time in India.

In fact, in a recent workshop where I introduced a team of German engineers to Indian culture, I explained this concept and did a few activities for both parties to understand the cultural differences.

I got both the Indian team and the German team to try their hand at a role play activity. The premise: One group had to extend an invitation to another group - both of them representing different families. The briefing for the second group was to find a creative way to decline the invitation. We ended up roaring with laughter as one group declared that their grandmother was pregnant. Not very realistic for very different cultural reasons which I will not delve into today, but clearly creative.

The moral from the workshop is that when it comes to losing face, one group was more quick to opt for a bizarre excuse rather than tell the truth.

Which brings us to the big question..

How do we make a mistake without losing face?

Let’s be honest, the reason most people make up these excuses or ‘bahanas’ (as I’ve learned to say in Hindi), is because it could mean being perceived differently, or getting a bad performance report or in worst case scenarios - job loss. So, what to do?

Firstly, let’s understand that losing face definitely is a blow to the ego. It’s a very human instinct to want to portray ourselves as being incapable of doing any wrong. However, let’s look at it from a fresh perspective of being authentic and truthful. Two virtues that are highly valuable in a person’s professional and personal life.

It is better to be and say who you are than to cover your mistakes. In my experience, that only makes a situation worse. Losing face or blatantly lying can actually cause your boss or colleagues to mistrust you in the long run. Therefore, stay true in your thoughts, emotions and actions. This often means accepting the fact that you made a mistake or failed.

Embrace Failure Proudly!

In the business context, I am of the firm belief that through making mistakes and failing we learn better than we would have through reading about the experience in a book. In fact, when it comes to your career, I would say to fail early, fail fast and fail often - there is a great wealth of knowledge and lessons that come from these “failures” that will help you make better decisions in the future.

Us Germans have a common saying, “fall down, stand up, adjust the crown and move on.” So, the next time your natural instinct is to try and save face, think about the saying above. You never know how it could propel your professional path in a more authentic direction. A direction where you don’t need to save face because you’re able to embrace both failure and success with confidence.