Fool Some of the People All of the Time

I did some calculations recently, for work, of course, and when I was done, they all worked out, like they always do. There was just a very minor error, and the figures were out in a very minor way, well within the margin of error that would have been accepted. The figures would have been signed off and we'd have been fine.

It was for the conclusion of a project, so nothing ongoing, and the figures would have been accepted, no questions would have been asked, and it would all have been a completed a .

Done.

I was about to send them off to Boris, after which I wouldn't have heard any more. On to the next project. Tra la la.

But, there was that minor error, and I had plenty of time to go over the figures one more time to see if I could pinpoint the dodgy figures, wherever they were, and bring the project into balance with a perfect set of figures. (Have you tuned out yet?)

Lovely. Shouldn't be a problem. Let's knock it over.

Big exhale. Except that wasn't what happened. I dug a little and more errors came up. Okay, I'll just fix those and then get back to the other problem. I dug a little more, and more errors, and more errors, and more errors. It was like trying to catch water in your hands.

We've ended up with... I've ended up with figures that are so out it makes Donald Trump look reasonable, with no idea why they are like that, not dissimilar to trying to understand why anyone would vote for Donald Trump, just no clue.

Really, I have no idea what the problem now is, which tends to suggest that someone has made a stupid mistake which doesn't bare logical scrutiny.

There was a moment, when I considered putting the figures back to what I had in the first place, and sending them off to Boris, who would have accepted them and signed off on them, and the matter would have been closed. Oh, I so should have just done that.

It would have been so unlikely that an auditor would have found the problem, it would have been a million to one chance they would have stumbled across it. The vast majority of auditors are newly minted finance boffins who have barely had time to grow pubic hair and are yet to get their first position, anywhere, and who are relatively clueless in all aspects of life. Most, but not all, of course.

When is it acceptable to send out an inferior product, all the while knowing it was inferior? Oh no, I couldn't just do that.

Oh, I should have just bodgied it up and finished it. Stupid me.