YOU MAY NOT LIKE THE TRUTH

Early in a new carrier market in Wisconsin, my crew was building our first site in that market.

We had been on the site for several days when we discovered we didn't have the correct fibers we needed to finish the installation. At the time, once certain equipment was removed from the factory packaging, there was a limited window to get it installed and powered up. The carrier was also pushing toward launch.

I made a decision.

I found fibers we had available that would work temporarily. They weren't the correct fibers for the installation, and I knew it. We installed them, got the site where it needed to be, and my intention was to come back with the correct material and fix it.

That was the mistake.

A temporary solution is only temporary if you control what happens next. Once the site moved forward, my temporary solution became part of completed work.

Later, the carrier's construction manager called me.

"James, did you use the right fibers on that site?"

This was one of my first projects with him. I didn't know that third-party auditors had already inspected the site. I didn't know exactly what he knew when he asked the question.

I had a choice.

I could have said I needed to check. I could have blamed the material shortage. I could have asked the crew what happened and bought myself some time.

Instead, I told him the truth.

"No. I didn't."

Then I explained exactly what I had done and why I had done it.

We went back and corrected the installation properly. During that process, we also identified a problem with some of the early-version components being used in the installation. A manufacturer's representative later came into the market, worked directly with crews, provided updated components, and asked for field feedback about what could be improved.

But that wasn't the part of the experience that stayed with me.

The phone call did.

I made a mistake, and the man responsible for that market asked me directly about it. I didn't know what information he already had when he asked me. If I had lied, avoided the question, or tried to protect myself, he would have known exactly what kind of person he was dealing with.

Instead, we worked together on projects for roughly the next ten years.

That experience helped establish a rule I still use today when I work for someone new:

I'm never going to lie to you.

You may not like what I have to tell you. You may not like the problem. You may not even like a decision I made.

But you will know you're getting the truth.

Because once we have the truth, we can deal with the problem.

Mistakes can be corrected. Material can be replaced. Work can be rebuilt.

Trust is harder to repair.

The mistake didn't build the trust. Owning the mistake did.