Correcting your own number out loud
On the Canyon Corporate Center bid I kept the estimate on square footage and named my own labeling error openly.
The Canyon Corporate Center bid went through several rounds of revisions driven by the client. Partway through, he corrected a unit count that was wrong by more than two dozen units, just after he had asked for a value-engineering pass on one finish level.
I kept the estimate tied to square footage, the method that actually drove it, and did not rework it to match his new unit count. I also said out loud that I had mislabeled which finish level his value-engineering request applied to.
A bid that rests on square footage can absorb a bad unit count. A bid patched silently to fit whatever number the client gave last cannot explain itself later if that number proves wrong again. Naming my own mistake, instead of quietly fixing it, kept his trust in the rest of the figure.
We issued v2 Rev 2 and then v3 Rev 3, each labeled plainly against the version before, so he always knew which number was current.
Own your mistake in the open, and do not let someone else's bad number slide in as your basis. Version discipline is a form of respect. The client was juggling plenty of numbers of his own, and he needed to know which one was real.
Story details
| Project | Canyon Corporate |
|---|---|
| Type | The honest call |
| Year | 2026 |
| Firm telling | on the Common Ground wiki |