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For an awful lot of people, apologizing and taking responsibility for an error is very difficult. People will go to ridiculous lengths to avoid doing so, coming up with ever more complicated explanations as to why they are blameless.

Apologizing and taking responsibility is a sign of good character, not a sign of weakness.

Case in point: antennagate and Jobs' attempt to blame the users for holding the phone wrong.

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Apologizing and taking responsibility is a sign of good character, not a sign of weakness.

A lot of people disagree with you, and see it as a sign of weakness. Often those people have a lot of influence over your career.

Good luck filling your organization with people who won't take any responsibility and look for scapegoats. Me, I prefer "the buck stops here" people working for me.

Right, it's probably not a good idea from a pure performance perspective. But people aren't always rational.

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