Tesla Assessment Tests

Tesla Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a sales assistant at a garden centre. Your manager asked you this morning to price and shelve a delivery of spring bulbs before you finish at 5pm; the bulbs are not on promotion and no customer is waiting for them. At 2pm the till supervisor tells you the card terminal on the main till has failed, a queue is building at the single working till, and you are the only other member of staff trained to open the second one. Your manager is running a planting workshop outside for the next hour. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Open the second till straight away to clear the queue, then go back to the bulbs and let your manager know afterwards that the pricing may run past 5pm.
   2. Carry on pricing the bulbs because your manager asked for them personally, and leave the till supervisor to manage the queue without mentioning that you are trained on the second till.
   3. Serve at the second till between trips to the stockroom, pricing a few trays of bulbs each time the queue drops, so that both jobs keep moving through the afternoon.
   4. Interrupt your manager's planting workshop to ask whether the bulbs or the till queue should come first, and wait for her decision before doing anything else.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Open the second till straight away to clear the queue, then go back to the bulbs and let your manager know afterwards that the pricing may run past 5pm.

   Least effective: B. Carry on pricing the bulbs because your manager asked for them personally, and leave the till supervisor to manage the queue without mentioning that you are trained on the second till.

   B: Hides the problem: you hold the one fact that would fix the queue and you withhold it, so the supervisor cannot solve a problem she does not know is solvable. That is concealment, not a priority call.

   C: Splits effort so nothing finishes: customers are waiting now and the queue only clears if someone stays on the till, so stepping away repeatedly leaves the queue growing and the bulbs still unpriced.

   D: Escalates prematurely: a queue at the only working till against unpriced stock nobody is waiting for is a call you can make yourself, and interrupting a customer workshop costs more than it settles.

   The most effective response is to open the second till straight away and tell your manager afterwards: customers are waiting now, the bulbs are waiting for nobody, and the pricing deadline is internal and movable while the queue is neither. Telling her afterwards keeps her informed without pulling her out of a workshop. It beats serving at the second till between trips to the stockroom, because serving in bursts never clears a queue; the till needs someone sitting at it, and dividing yourself leaves both jobs half done. It beats interrupting her planting workshop to ask which comes first, because this is a straightforward call between a waiting customer and a task nobody is waiting on, and it does not need a manager pulled away from a customer event to make it. The least effective response is carrying on with the bulbs without mentioning that you are trained on the second till: you are the only other trained operator and you keep that to yourself, so the supervisor is left unable to fix something you could have fixed in seconds. That is worse than serving in bursts, which at least serves some customers, and worse than asking your manager, which at least surfaces the clash to someone. The principle: when one task has people waiting on it and the other does not, serve the people, then tell the person whose deadline slipped.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are a project coordinator at a translation agency. You and your colleague Owen allocate work to freelance translators. He has twice reallocated jobs you had already assigned, without telling you, and a freelancer has complained about being stood down at short notice. You share the allocation spreadsheet. Owen is experienced and well regarded. A large batch is due for allocation on Monday. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Lock the allocation spreadsheet so that only you can change assignments once they are made, and tell Owen the new arrangement when he next needs to reallocate.
   2. Speak to Owen before Monday, tell him what the reallocations cost the freelancer, and agree between you how changes to an existing allocation will be handled in future.
   3. Raise it with your manager, explaining that Owen has twice overridden your allocations and that a freelancer has now complained about it.
   4. Say nothing and check the spreadsheet each morning so that you can spot any reallocations and warn the affected freelancers yourself before they are stood down.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Speak to Owen before Monday, tell him what the reallocations cost the freelancer, and agree between you how changes to an existing allocation will be handled in future.

   Least effective: D. Say nothing and check the spreadsheet each morning so that you can spot any reallocations and warn the affected freelancers yourself before they are stood down.

   A: Personalises the conflict: it settles the disagreement by taking control of a shared tool rather than talking, and Owen finds out through a locked file that he is no longer trusted with it.

   C: Escalates prematurely: Owen has not been told there is a problem, so the first he hears of it comes from a manager, over something a conversation before Monday could settle.

   D: Avoids the difficult conversation: it accepts that freelancers will keep being stood down and adds a daily workaround to soften it. Owen never learns anything is wrong, so the practice continues indefinitely.

   The most effective response is to speak to Owen before Monday, tell him what the reallocations cost the freelancer, and agree how changes to an existing allocation will be handled: this is a working practice between two colleagues, there is a large allocation on Monday that will otherwise repeat it, and he has never been told the reallocations cause a problem downstream. One conversation settles both the grievance and the rule. It beats raising it with your manager and explaining that he has twice overridden your allocations, because involving a manager before Owen knows there is an issue turns a fixable habit into a complaint against an experienced colleague. It beats locking the spreadsheet so only you can change assignments, because that communicates distrust without ever saying what is wrong, and invites a worse argument. The least effective response is checking the spreadsheet each morning so you can warn the affected freelancers yourself: it leaves the behaviour untouched and builds a daily monitoring routine around it, so freelancers keep being stood down and the only change is that you spend longer managing the consequences. That is worse than the other two, which address it clumsily but do address it. The principle: raise a working-practice problem with the colleague causing it, before the next occasion that would repeat it.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You work as a machine operative at a joinery workshop. Changing over the crosscut saw, you notice its blade guard is cracked and no longer locks into position. Workshop rules say a defective guard must be reported to the supervisor, who takes the machine out of use until it is repaired. It is the only crosscut saw in the workshop, several colleagues rely on it every day, and losing it would slow the whole team’s work; the last repair took most of a week. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Say nothing about the guard and plan your own jobs around the other machines, leaving the crosscut saw available for the colleagues who rely on it.
   2. Carry on using the saw with extra care yourself, warning colleagues to do the same, and raise the guard at the team meeting later in the week.
   3. Report the cracked guard to your supervisor straight away, so the saw comes out of use until it has been repaired.
   4. Email the company's health and safety officer asking for an urgent inspection of every machine in the workshop, assuming other guards are probably wearing out as well.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Report the cracked guard to your supervisor straight away, so the saw comes out of use until it has been repaired.

   Least effective: A. Say nothing about the guard and plan your own jobs around the other machines, leaving the crosscut saw available for the colleagues who rely on it.

   A: Stays silent about a known safety risk: keeping quiet while steering only yourself away from the saw protects you and nobody else; colleagues keep using a machine you know is unsafe, which is self-protective silence rather than a defensible reading of the risk.

   B: Fails to escalate a genuine risk: care and warnings do not fix a guard that no longer locks, and waiting days for a meeting keeps a known hazard in daily use when the rules give you a route that acts today.

   D: Escalates on assumptions without checking: widening one observed fault into a workshop-wide inspection request is built on a guess, bypasses the supervisor the rules name, and leaves the one saw you know is unsafe in use while the bigger process gets arranged.

   The most effective response is to report the cracked guard to your supervisor straight away so the saw comes out of use: a guard that is cracked and no longer locks is a genuine injury risk, the rules name exactly who to tell, and the supervisor can act today. The disruption to the team is real, but it is the trade the workshop’s own rules have already made. It beats carrying on with extra care and raising it at the team meeting, because care and warnings do not make a broken guard safe, and waiting days keeps the hazard in daily use for the sake of avoiding a difficult report. It beats emailing the health and safety officer for a workshop-wide inspection, because that inflates one observed fault into an assumed general problem, bypasses the supervisor who can act now, and leaves the one saw you know is unsafe running while a bigger inspection is arranged. The least effective response is saying nothing and working around the saw yourself: unlike carrying on with warnings, which at least alerts the people at risk, and unlike the inspection request, which at least tells someone with authority, it tells nobody and quietly protects only you, leaving colleagues to use a machine you know is unsafe. The principle: a genuine safety risk is raised at once through the stated route, whatever the disruption, and never managed silently around yourself.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You work in a commercial laundry. Your colleague Aled is loading a large hotel order alone against a 2pm van departure, and it is 1pm. The load needs two people to make the deadline. You have finished your own machines and have nothing else assigned. The shift supervisor is dealing with a breakdown at the other end of the building. Aled has not asked for help. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Go over to Aled, tell him your machines are finished and you will take half the load, and work with him until the order is ready for the van.
   2. Carry on tidying your own area, since the hotel order is Aled's job today and he has not asked anybody for help with it.
   3. Ask Aled whether he wants help and get on with something else if he says he is fine, since he knows how the hotel order is sorted and may prefer to keep his own system.
   4. Find the shift supervisor and tell her the hotel order will miss the 2pm van unless someone else is put on it.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Go over to Aled, tell him your machines are finished and you will take half the load, and work with him until the order is ready for the van.

   Least effective: B. Carry on tidying your own area, since the hotel order is Aled's job today and he has not asked anybody for help with it.

   B: Waits to be asked: a two-person load is being done by one person against a van departure, and the reason for not helping is that he has not asked. Waiting to be asked is what causes the order to miss the van.

   C: Substitutes own judgement for the stakeholder's: a colleague an hour from a van departure will usually say he is managing, so the question is polite and predictably leaves him loading alone.

   D: Escalates prematurely: you are the person she would send, she is dealing with a breakdown, and the walk there and back costs minutes the load does not have.

   The most effective response is to go over to Aled, tell him your machines are finished and you will take half the load, and work with him until the order is ready: the load needs two people, there is an hour, and your own machines are done, so joining him is the only response that actually makes the van. Telling him your work is finished removes any need for him to ask. It beats asking whether he wants help and getting on with something else if he says he is fine, because a colleague under time pressure will usually decline a general offer, and the load is no further forward. It beats finding the shift supervisor to say the order will miss the 2pm van, because you are the resource she would send, and fetching her costs minutes while she is handling a breakdown. The least effective response is carrying on tidying your own area because he has not asked anybody: it leaves a two-person load with one person and a van departure that will be missed. That is worse than offering, which at least asks, and worse than telling the supervisor, which at least raises it. The principle: when a colleague plainly cannot finish alone and you are free, take half the work rather than waiting to be asked.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a research assistant in a university laboratory. You and a postdoctoral colleague, Wei, disagree about whether a set of anomalous results should be included in a paper being submitted next week. He wants to exclude them as experimental error; you think they are real and should be reported. The principal investigator is at a conference and reachable by email. Wei is drafting the paper now. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Defer to Wei since he is more experienced and it is his paper to draft, and keep your own record of the anomalous results in case they matter later.
   2. Email the principal investigator now setting out the disagreement, since inclusion of data is her decision and the submission deadline is next week.
   3. Say nothing further and let the paper go out without the anomalous results, since Wei is confident they are experimental error and challenging him would strain a working relationship you rely on.
   4. Set out to Wei why you think the results are real, and if you still disagree put the question to the principal investigator by email before the paper is submitted.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Set out to Wei why you think the results are real, and if you still disagree put the question to the principal investigator by email before the paper is submitted.

   Least effective: C. Say nothing further and let the paper go out without the anomalous results, since Wei is confident they are experimental error and challenging him would strain a working relationship you rely on.

   A: Prioritises the record over the outcome: a private note protects you while a paper goes out without data you believe are real, which is a question about the published science rather than about seniority.

   B: Escalates prematurely: Wei has not yet heard your reasoning in full, and taking it straight to the principal investigator at a conference makes a formal dispute of something a conversation may settle.

   C: Fails to escalate a genuine risk: it lets data you believe are real be excluded from a publication because raising it would be uncomfortable. Silence about what goes into the scientific record is a different order of wrong from raising it clumsily.

   The most effective response is to set out to Wei why you think the results are real, and if you still disagree put the question to the principal investigator before submission: whether the anomalies are error or signal is a scientific question with evidence behind it, he has not yet heard your full reasoning, and there is time to reach her. Talking first is proportionate and escalating on continued disagreement is proper. It beats emailing the principal investigator now to set out the disagreement, because doing that before he has heard the argument turns a scientific discussion into a dispute referred over his head. It beats deferring to him while keeping your own record of the anomalous results, because a private record protects you and does nothing about what is published. The least effective response is saying nothing further and letting the paper go out without them: it allows data you believe are real to be excluded because the conversation would be awkward, which is a decision about the scientific record taken for social reasons. That is worse than the other two, which handle it imperfectly but keep the question alive. The principle: argue the evidence with your colleague first, then take it to whoever owns the decision, before the work is committed.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a ward administrator at a veterinary hospital. At 4pm three things need you. A dog is due to be collected at 4.30 and its discharge notes are not written, which takes fifteen minutes. A referring vet has rung twice for an update on a case and is waiting for a call back. And the practice manager wants the month-end invoicing reconciled tonight, which takes two hours. You finish at 7pm. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Ring the referring vet first since he has already rung twice, then write the discharge notes and start the invoicing.
   2. Start the month-end invoicing since it is the longest job and is wanted tonight, and fit the discharge notes and the call around it as the evening goes on.
   3. Send the dog home at 4.30 without written discharge notes and telephone the owner with the aftercare instructions later in the evening once the invoicing is done.
   4. Write the discharge notes for the 4.30 collection, ring the referring vet back, then spend the rest of the evening on the invoicing.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Write the discharge notes for the 4.30 collection, ring the referring vet back, then spend the rest of the evening on the invoicing.

   Least effective: C. Send the dog home at 4.30 without written discharge notes and telephone the owner with the aftercare instructions later in the evening once the invoicing is done.

   A: Delays the decision: the call has no fixed time and the collection is at 4.30. Answering by who has waited longest rather than by when something is needed risks the owner arriving to notes that are not written.

   B: Splits effort so nothing finishes: two hours of invoicing has three hours of room, and starting it first leaves a fifteen-minute task with a 4.30 deadline to be squeezed.

   C: Acts recklessly with a clinical handover: discharge notes are how an owner knows about medication and aftercare, and sending an animal home without them, on a promise to ring later, risks the dog's recovery.

   The most effective response is to write the discharge notes for the 4.30 collection, ring the referring vet back, then spend the rest of the evening on the invoicing: the collection is fixed and only fifteen minutes away, the vet’s call has no fixed time but has already waited twice, and two hours of invoicing fits comfortably in the three hours left. Sequencing by deadline gets all three done. It beats ringing the referring vet first because he has already rung twice, since that risks an owner arriving to notes that do not exist. It beats starting the month-end invoicing as the longest job wanted tonight, because that squeezes the one task with a hard time on it. The least effective response is sending the dog home without written discharge notes and telephoning the aftercare later: it discharges an animal without written instructions to protect a paperwork deadline. That is worse than the other two, which order the work badly but complete it properly. The principle: do the short task with the fixed clinical deadline first, then the waiting person, then the long job that fits the remaining time.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are a duty coordinator at a courier depot. At 3pm three things need you. A driver has broken down with a vehicle full of next-day parcels and needs a recovery arranged. Your manager wants the weekly performance figures before he leaves at 4pm. And a customer is holding on the phone about a parcel that has been missing for a week. The recovery firm’s cut-off for same-day attendance is 3.30pm. The figures take twenty minutes. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Take the customer's call first since she is already holding and has been waiting a week, then arrange the recovery and do the figures if there is time before 4pm.
   2. Ask the driver to arrange his own recovery while you handle the customer and the figures, since he is at the roadside and knows the vehicle better than you do.
   3. Arrange the recovery before the 3.30pm cut-off, take the customer's number and promise a call back, then do the figures for your manager before 4pm.
   4. Do the performance figures first so your manager has them before he leaves at 4pm, then arrange the recovery and return the customer's call afterwards.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Arrange the recovery before the 3.30pm cut-off, take the customer's number and promise a call back, then do the figures for your manager before 4pm.

   Least effective: B. Ask the driver to arrange his own recovery while you handle the customer and the figures, since he is at the roadside and knows the vehicle better than you do.

   A: Ignores the closing window: her parcel has been missing a week and will still be missing in ten minutes, while the recovery cut-off passes at 3.30pm and strands a van of next-day parcels overnight.

   B: Passes responsibility to others: the depot holds the recovery account and the cut-off, not the driver at the roadside. Handing him a task he cannot complete means the cut-off passes with nobody having acted.

   D: Substitutes own judgement for the stakeholder's: it puts a reporting deadline ahead of a van of next-day parcels whose recovery window shuts in thirty minutes, and your manager has not been told the two clash.

   The most effective response is to arrange the recovery before the 3.30pm cut-off, take the customer’s number and promise a call back, then do the figures before 4pm: only the recovery has a window that shuts, and missing it strands a van of next-day parcels overnight. Once it is arranged, twenty minutes of figures still fits and the customer gets a call back today. It beats taking the customer’s call first because she is already holding, since a parcel missing for a week is not made worse by ten more minutes, while the cut-off cannot be recovered once passed. It beats doing the performance figures first so your manager has them before he leaves, because that treats a reporting deadline as outranking a closing operational window, without telling him the two clash. The least effective response is asking the driver to arrange his own recovery from the roadside: it hands it to the one person who cannot arrange it, since the depot holds the account, so the cut-off passes with nobody having acted. That is worse than the other two, which sequence badly but keep the work with someone able to do it. The principle: do the thing whose window is closing first, then fit the rest around it.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are an assistant at a children’s after-school activity club. A parent has paid for her son to attend a climbing session on Thursday. This morning the instructor tells you he is unwell and Thursday’s climbing will be replaced by indoor games. The parent chose the club specifically for the climbing. She can be reached by phone or email. The club manager is on leave until Friday. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Email all parents on Wednesday evening with the amended timetable, so that everyone is told at the same time and the message is consistent.
   2. Ring the parent to say Thursday's session is changing, and tell her you will confirm what it is being replaced with once the timetable has been sorted out.
   3. Say nothing and let Thursday go ahead as indoor games, since the children enjoy those too and the parent may not mind once her son has had a good afternoon.
   4. Contact the parent today, explain the instructor is unwell and Thursday will be indoor games instead, and tell her what the alternatives are including a refund or a later climbing session.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Contact the parent today, explain the instructor is unwell and Thursday will be indoor games instead, and tell her what the alternatives are including a refund or a later climbing session.

   Least effective: C. Say nothing and let Thursday go ahead as indoor games, since the children enjoy those too and the parent may not mind once her son has had a good afternoon.

   A: Delays the message: a Wednesday evening notice reaches her the night before, when she has already arranged her Thursday around a session that is not happening.

   B: Delays the decision: it reaches her today, which is right, and withholds the two facts she needs, what is happening instead and what her options are, so she still cannot decide anything.

   C: Hides the problem: she paid for climbing specifically and is left to discover the change at collection, with no chance to decide whether she still wanted the session. Assuming she will not mind is not her decision to make.

   The most effective response is to contact the parent today, explain the instructor is unwell and Thursday will be indoor games, and set out the alternatives including a refund or a later climbing session: she chose and paid for climbing specifically, the substitution changes what she bought, and telling her today lets her decide whether her son still attends. It beats ringing to say only that Thursday is changing and you will confirm the replacement later, because that leaves her unable to act when you already know what it changes to. It beats emailing all parents on Wednesday evening with the amended timetable, because a general notice the night before arrives after she has organised her Thursday. The least effective response is saying nothing and letting Thursday go ahead as indoor games: it lets her pay for climbing, send her son to something else, and find out afterwards, on the assumption that she will not mind. That is worse than the other two, which tell her late or partially but do tell her. The principle: when what someone paid for changes, tell them promptly, tell them what it changes to, and give them the choice.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are a warehouse operative at a pharmaceutical distributor. Picking an order you notice a pallet of temperature-sensitive medicines standing in the main aisle rather than in the cold room. You do not know how long it has been there. The order it belongs to is due to ship in an hour. The quality supervisor is on site. There is a written procedure for temperature excursions that you have seen but not been trained on. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Leave the pallet where it is, tell the quality supervisor now that temperature-sensitive stock has been out of the cold room for an unknown time, and let her apply the excursion procedure.
   2. Move the pallet into the cold room straight away so the medicines stop warming, and mention it to the quality supervisor when you next see her.
   3. Say nothing, since you do not know how long it has been there, it may have been moved out minutes ago, and you have not been trained on the excursion procedure.
   4. Read the excursion procedure and follow the steps yourself so the pallet is handled correctly before the order ships in an hour.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Leave the pallet where it is, tell the quality supervisor now that temperature-sensitive stock has been out of the cold room for an unknown time, and let her apply the excursion procedure.

   Least effective: C. Say nothing, since you do not know how long it has been there, it may have been moved out minutes ago, and you have not been trained on the excursion procedure.

   B: Removes the evidence: cooling the pallet erases how long it was out, which is the one fact the excursion procedure exists to establish. The stock is no safer for having been put back.

   C: Fails to escalate a genuine risk: medicines whose temperature history is unknown are about to ship to patients, and the reason for silence, that you are untrained, is exactly why it needs to reach someone who is trained.

   D: Acts outside own training: applying a procedure you have never been trained on, to decide whether medicines are still fit to ship, risks a confident and wrong answer within the hour.

   The most effective response is to leave the pallet where it is and tell the quality supervisor now that temperature-sensitive stock has been out of the cold room for an unknown time: that is precisely what the excursion procedure exists to assess, and she is on site and trained to do it before the order ships. Leaving the pallet untouched preserves the information she needs. It beats moving it into the cold room straight away and mentioning it later, because that destroys the evidence of how long it was out, and warmed stock is not made safe by being cooled again. It beats reading the excursion procedure and following the steps yourself, because working through a procedure you have never been trained on, to decide whether medicines are fit for patients, is a decision made on the wrong authority under time pressure. The least effective response is saying nothing because you do not know how long it has been there and have not been trained: it lets medicines of unknown temperature history ship to patients and tells nobody, using your own lack of training as the reason for silence. That is worse than the other two, which act wrongly but bring the problem into the open. The principle: when something is outside your training and about to become irreversible, preserve the situation and get the trained person to it.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are a funeral arranger. You have had an emotionally difficult week and today have taken three arrangement meetings back to back. A family arrives for the fourth, an hour early, and the son tells you at the door that the arrangements you sent contain the wrong name for his mother. You are tired and know you are close to your limit. Your funeral director is in the office. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Apologise for the mistake and start the meeting straight away without mentioning the error to anyone else, since raising it would only draw attention to a failing in your own work.
    2. Apologise, correct the paperwork immediately and start the meeting an hour early, since the family are here and have already been let down once.
    3. Apologise for the error, settle the family with a short wait, and tell your funeral director now so the paperwork is corrected and she can take the meeting if that is better.
    4. Apologise, correct the name, and ask the family to wait until the original appointment time so that you have a short break before the meeting begins.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: C. Apologise for the error, settle the family with a short wait, and tell your funeral director now so the paperwork is corrected and she can take the meeting if that is better.

    Least effective: A. Apologise for the mistake and start the meeting straight away without mentioning the error to anyone else, since raising it would only draw attention to a failing in your own work.

    A: Hides an error to protect yourself: a family's mother's name was wrong on their arrangements, and the reason for not telling the funeral director is how it reflects on you. That leaves the error unexamined and the family with a tired arranger.

    B: Abandons own limits at the family's expense: starting an hour early when you know you are close to your limit takes the most demanding meeting of the week at the worst moment, and this family need you at your best.

    D: Hides the strain until failure: it buys a few minutes without telling anyone how the week has gone, so the funeral director cannot judge whether you should be taking this meeting at all.

    The most effective response is to apologise for the error, settle the family with a short wait, and tell your funeral director now so the paperwork is corrected and she can take the meeting if that is better: the family need the error put right and they need an arranger who is not at the end of a very hard week, and she can do both. Settling them first means the apology is not delayed by the internal question. It beats correcting the name and asking them to wait until the original time so you get a short break, because a break nobody knows about leaves her unable to judge whether you should be taking the meeting. It beats correcting the paperwork and starting an hour early, because beginning while you know you are close to your limit gives this family the least of you at the point they need the most. The least effective response is starting the meeting straight away without mentioning the error to anyone: it hides a mistake on a family’s arrangements to stop it reflecting badly on you. That is worse than the other two, which handle the pressure badly but put the error right openly. The principle: fix what the person in front of you needs, and tell whoever can rebalance the work the truth about your own capacity.