Sometimes, if you're quite lucky, when you get it wrong, the person you wronged will politely point it out to you.
At this point, you have a choice. You can elegantly (and with gratitude) make things right, which often builds a better bridge than you could ever hope for...
Or, in frustration, embarassment and a bit of pique, you can choose to make things worse.
Here are some of the magic words that might help build that bridge:
- "I" (not "we" or some magical use of the third person)
- "sorry"
- "thank you"
It's there if you want it.