The Reply-All Nightmare That Turned Into A Super Bowl Commercial

Many of you might remember the viral Super Bowl commercial in 2011 where a man thought he was sending an email to only one person but instead hit "reply all" and sent it to his entire company.

He jumped into action by sabotaging and taking away every laptop, computer, and phone from his colleagues hoping they wouldn't read the email. He even went into the server room and pulled out all the cables while screaming his head off the entire time.

This commercial was not only funny, but it actually happened (not the destroying computers and server part...that would be scary and awkward at the same time) to Bill Cochran, the creative director of the ad agency that created this spot.

Bill sent a not-so-nice email filled with colorful language about his colleagues to all 600 employees by mistake, including the owner of the company.

For those who just missed it. Six hundred people saw his email.

Ouch.

We all wish we could go back in time and undo a mistake, or un-send an email or two, or three if you're the type who likes to live on the edge.

Mistakes are a part of life. They're going to happen, and you can't always avoid them, especially if you're in a leadership position.

But there's a big difference between making a mistake and owning up to it when you do—and it's not just about being able to say, "Hey guys, I screwed up." It's about actually learning from that mistake and taking steps toward making sure it doesn't happen again.

Researchers found that a leader’s willingness to “admit when they are wrong” is the top-tested behavior when it comes to positively impacting employee job satisfaction and intention to stay in the job.

And that 81 % of employees consider it very important for leaders to admit mistakes, but only 41 % felt that their bosses did so consistently.

In other words, failing to recognize and admit mistakes is not a virtue, but actually a weakness—and it is especially dangerous in a leader.

However, when you own up to a mistake, you don’t lose credibility or trust with your team, you actually enhance it.

I love what author Glenn Lopis said in a Forbes article: "Successful leaders are transparent enough with themselves and others to admit their wrongdoings so that those around them can also benefit from their learnings. They call this wisdom and many leaders lack it – because they are too proud to recognize mistakes as valuable learning moments for themselves and others.”

So what happened to Bill Cochran after the infamous email gaffe?

Well, aside from being the proud owner of a lifetime supply of humble pie, his boss decided to give him another chance, leading him and his team to create what we all now see as one of the most successful Super Bowl commercials in history.

As for the "reply-all" feature, if it's not something you would want the whole world to see, it might not be worth sending after all.