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I think the 'always call out a coworker's small mistake' rule is wrong

At my old job, we had a team rule to point out every tiny error in reports, like a missing comma. Over six months, I saw our weekly meetings go from 30 minutes to over 90, just nitpicking. People started hiding drafts and asking fewer questions because they were scared of being corrected. The rule was meant to help, but it just made everyone anxious and less honest. Has anyone else seen a well-meant rule hurt trust at work?
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3 Comments
taylorshah
Honestly I used to be all about that "catch every mistake" mindset. But watching a team get paralyzed over tiny details totally changed my view. It just kills any chance of real teamwork.
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ivanscott
ivanscott4d ago
Our team's "error spotting" culture got so bad we once spent 20 minutes debating the font size in a footer. It was Comic Sans, so maybe they had a point.
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fiona_west21
Funny how that rule can actually make the final work worse, right. People get so focused on avoiding tiny slip-ups that the big picture ideas get lost. It's like editing a sentence to death until it says nothing at all. What's the point of a perfect comma in a report that's too scared to say anything useful?
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