Making mistakes is human. Making excuses, an art. When you are the boss, coming across colleagues with a special talent for defending their errors is inevitable. If one's secretary has a flair for forgetting the names of callers, don't be surprised if the person says, "Sir, I was not at my seat. Somebody else must have collected the call." The boss becomes helpless if the secretary manufactures a new excuse every day. Leaving her seat may be a convenient explanation, organising coffee for the boss's guests can be another. Presenting some such classics... So sick I could die The easiest form of self-defence. If you have erred and the boss is livid, just walk up to the latter with a drooping countenance. Say that you are down with a high temperature. Millions of employees have used this tool; and, even as one writes this, the number continues to increase. No dignified boss will touch your forehead to check whether or not you are lying. The mistake is likely to be ignored when the 'ill one' says, "Sir, I am sorry about the error. I am so sick that I shouldn't have come to work today. I did so only because I wished to assist you with the clearing of files." After hearing the plight of such a conscientious employee, what can the boss say? Trouble at home Personal and professional problems cohabit the same planet. For, everyone knows that employees hurl the burden of personal issues as a reason for doing badly very often. At times, such problems are big mysteries. "I have some issues Sir. Please forgive me for a few errors here and there for a while. I promise to try my best though," one colleague might whine so convincingly that the boss is left speechless. Not me, someone else! Masters in the art of blaming others, some guys invent one new lie every nanosecond. They can, for instance, blame their colleagues for distracting them, leading to errors. These guys can potentially dangerous. Their 'victims' can get into serious trouble, and the overall health of the professional set-up can get affected as well. Smart bosses see through such lies very often. The problem begins when one slice of fiction seems so reasonable that the boss accepts it as the absolute truth. Workplaces and excuses go together. Even the bosses get used to false explanations, knowing that they too sold fiction once.