Crazy Workplace Mistakes: Can They Be Fixed?

My Dog Ate the Product Release

Of course, try as we might to play by the corporate rules, we're bound to have a Homer Simpson moment at one time or another.

Just ask Rene Churchill, a software programmer in Waterbury Center, Vt. While cleaning up the storage space on his former employer's file server, he deleted a crucial product release the day it was slated to be sent to the company's biggest customers.

"After realizing that I'd screwed up, I went to the VP of engineering and told him first, jumping two layers of management," Churchill said. He also told the VP what steps he was taking to rebuild the release and when the fix would be ready.

Related

Looking for Career Advice?

Show Up at Work … in Your Robe

Paternity Leave: When a Week Isn't Enough

"Once he understood that everything that could be done was being done, he wasn't too bent out of shape," Churchill said.

As for Churchill's immediate manager, "she was mostly relieved that she didn't have to break the bad news to the VP," he said.

According to Shapiro, Churchill did everything right. After all, management doesn't appreciate being blindsided.

"If they know that you're going to come to them and craft a strategy to work it out, it's going to make them trust you that much more," she explained.

"You want people to really think of you as a solid employee because when you do make a mistake you'll get a lot more leeway," Shapiro said.

"A lot of times if you're accused of something or there's a misunderstanding, your reputation may be the only thing that saves you."

This work is the opinion of the columnist and in no way reflects the opinion of ABC News.

Michelle Goodman is a freelance journalist, author and former cubicle dweller. Her books — "The Anti 9-to-5 Guide: Practical Career Advice for Women Who Think Outside the Cube" and "My So-Called Freelance Life: How to Survive and Thrive as a Creative Professional for Hire" (October 2008) — offer an irreverent take on the traditional career guide. More tips on career change, flex work and the freelance life can be found on her blog, Anti9to5Guide.com.