I Told You So

How often do you hear the words, “I told you so”?   How often do you say them?  As humans we love to remind people that we were right about something.   I was right about something this week at work.   I said that something bad could happen and I warned everyone that they needed to watch out for it.   They didn’t, and it did happen.  Now I would love to say, “I told you so.”

I can’t say it though.   I can’t say it because it involves clients and they don’t want to hear it.  It would not serve any of my purposes to remind them that I warned them.   This is true professionally, but reminding people that you were right is also not productive on a personal level.   Your spouse, your family, and your friends are not interested in hearing about how you were right and they were wrong.   They already know.   Reminding them does not help them and it doesn’t help you.   

What we need to remember is that when you warn someone about something and they ignore you, it’s your fault when things go wrong.    The bottom line is that if you are so sure that something is going to be a problem, you can’t just warn them; you have to convince them!  The onus is on you to show people why it’s a problem and to make sure they listen.   You might not always convince them but when you don’t, it’s certainly not a reason for gloating later.   Instead spend that energy figuring out why your argument was so flawed that they couldn’t understand it.