Tell me about a time you were proved wrong

Question Analysis

This question is designed to assess your ability to reflect on your experiences, accept feedback, and demonstrate growth from situations where you were incorrect. It highlights your humility, openness to learning, and your ability to adapt when faced with mistakes or incorrect assumptions. Employers value candidates who can learn from their experiences and improve their performance.

Answer

Situation: While working as a project manager at a software development company, I led a team responsible for delivering a new feature for our application. I initially believed that our existing codebase was robust enough to support the new feature without significant modifications.

Task: My task was to oversee the project and ensure it was delivered on time and within budget, while maintaining the quality standards expected by our client.

Action: I communicated my assessment to the team and stakeholders, and we began development based on this assumption. However, during the testing phase, we encountered numerous bugs and performance issues. A senior developer suggested that the codebase needed a substantial refactor to support the new feature. Initially, I resisted this idea, believing it would delay the project further. However, after reviewing the test results and discussing with the team, I realized that I was wrong in my initial assessment and that the refactor was necessary.

Result: I acknowledged my mistake to the team and stakeholders and supported the decision to refactor the codebase. Although this decision extended the timeline, the end product was much more stable and received positive feedback from the client. This experience taught me the importance of remaining open to feedback and being willing to adjust plans when new information is presented.