Solomon:

A mistake no one has noticed puts you between two risks: exposing something that may be containable, or staying quiet and finding out later that it mattered more than you thought.

Good operators separate the error from its downstream risk. If it could affect someone else’s decision, customer, money, deadline, or trust, early disclosure preserves options. Hiding it turns a mistake into a credibility issue.

David’s attempt to conceal what went wrong created consequences far beyond the original act. 2 Samuel 11–12.

Fix what you can first, then tell the person who owns the outcome: “I caught an error in ___. Here’s the impact, and here’s what I’m doing to correct it.” If it is fully contained, corrected, and affects no one else, learn from it and move on.