Your report caused a decision, and the number was wrong. What would you do?
A good apology is not the repair. The repair is the right number reaching the decision in time.
The question
At Pellbrook, a fictional online home-goods retailer, you are the analyst who writes the weekly sales report for the leadership team. It is Wednesday morning, and you have just found an error in Monday’s report.
- Your report, MondaySofa returns jumped to 12% last month. Recommend pausing the next reorder.
- Operations lead, TuesdayReorder paused, per the report.
- Sofa supplierOrders for our next production slot close Thursday. After that, the next slot is six weeks out.
| Reason | orders | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Kept | 528 | |
| Returned for a refund | 36 | |
| Exchanged for another sofa | 36 | |
| Total | 600 |
Invented data. Monday’s report counted returns and exchanges together: 72 of 600, 12%. Returns alone are 36 of 600, 6%. The previous three months averaged 5.5%.
- Return
- The sofa comes back and the customer is refunded.
- Exchange
- The customer swaps for another sofa. The sale is kept.
“You find that Monday’s report counted exchanges as returns, and the operations lead has already paused a reorder because of it. What would you do?”
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A strong answer, step by step
Open each step in turn. This is one strong answer, not the only one.
Step 1: Correct it now, to the same people
What would you do here? Open the move you’d make.
Fix it in next Monday’s report.
Tempting, but it misses something. The supplier’s slot closes Thursday. A correction next Monday arrives after the decision it could change.
Message only the operations lead, privately.
Tempting, but it misses something. Everyone who read Monday’s report saw 12%. Correcting one reader leaves the rest with the wrong number.
Send the correction today to everyone who got Monday’s report.
The strong move. The slot closes Thursday and the next one is six weeks out. A correction only repairs anything if it arrives before the decision.
See how a strong candidate says it
“I’d send the correction today to everyone who got Monday’s report, not fold it into next week’s. The supplier’s slot closes Thursday.”
Why it works: A correction that lands after the decision deadline repairs nothing.
Step 2: Give the right number and what it changes
What would you do here? Open the move you’d make.
Say there was a data issue and the number is under review.
Tempting, but it misses something. That hides the size of the error. Readers need the corrected figure: 36 of 600, 6%, not 12%.
Give the right number: returns were 36 of 600, 6%, not 12%, close to the 5.5% recent average.
The strong move. It replaces the wrong number and says what it changes: the case for pausing doesn’t hold on these numbers.
Apologize at length without restating the numbers.
Tempting, but it misses something. A long apology makes it about you. The decision-maker needs 6% against a 5.5% average, and to know exchanges were counted as returns.
See how a strong candidate says it
“Returns were 36 of 600, 6%, not 12%. I counted 36 exchanges as returns. That’s close to the 5.5% average of the three months before, so the case for pausing doesn’t hold on these numbers.”
Why it works: It replaces the wrong number and says plainly which decision rested on it.
Step 3: Hand the decision back to its owner
What would you do here? Open the move you’d make.
Ask the operations lead to look at the pause again before Thursday.
The strong move. The pause was her call. Repair puts the right information back in front of the person who decides.
Lift the pause and place the reorder myself.
Tempting, but it misses something. The pause was the operations lead’s decision. Reversing it yourself swaps one mistake for overstepping.
Leave the pause alone; the decision’s made.
Tempting, but it misses something. The pause rested on 12%. With returns at 6%, near the 5.5% average, she may decide differently, and Thursday is the deadline.
See how a strong candidate says it
“The pause was the operations lead’s call. I’d ask her to look at it again before Thursday, rather than reverse it myself.”
Why it works: Repair restores the right information to the person who decides. It doesn’t take over the decision.
Step 4: Fix the cause, not just the number
What would you do here? Open the move you’d make.
Promise to be more careful next time.
Tempting, but it misses something. Care isn’t a fix. The error came from counting 36 exchanges as returns; a written definition stops it recurring.
Point out that the data export mixed the two.
Tempting, but it misses something. Even if the export mixed them, you sent the number. Fixing the definition does more than finding a cause outside you.
Add return and exchange definitions to the report, and get a second check on any figure behind a recommendation.
The strong move. It fixes the cause, not just this number, without making the apology about you.
See how a strong candidate says it
“I’d put the return and exchange definitions in the report, and ask a second person to check any figure that drives a recommendation.”
Why it works: It shows the mistake won’t recur, without making the apology about you.
The answer, in short
- Decision
- Send a correction today to everyone on Monday’s report, and ask the operations lead to revisit the pause before Thursday’s supplier deadline.
- Because
- Returns were 36 of 600, 6%, close to the 5.5% recent average. The pause rested on a 12% that counted exchanges as returns.
- What would change it
- Returns alone running well above the recent average, or the operations lead having other reasons to keep the pause.
A real interviewer may follow up: “Tell me about a time you made a mistake at work.” Use your own experience: what happened, what you did and what changed. Don’t memorize an invented story.
Common traps
- Fixing it quietly in next week’s report.
- Reversing the pause yourself.
- Apologizing without the corrected number and what it changes.
- Blaming the data or the tool.
Check your answer
- Did I correct it before the decision deadline?
- Did I give the right number and say which decision it affects?
- Did I hand the decision back to its owner?
- Did I fix the cause so it won’t happen again?
Last reviewed Nov 9, 2026