This is the ideal way to respond if you make a mistake by accident. As in:

• “Oops, I made a mistake, please let me find a way to make this right.”
• “Oops, I made a mistake, please let me try to figure out why and fix it.”
• “Oops, I’m sorry I made a mistake. Please let me try another way.”
• “Oops, I totally forgot. I’m sorry, I’ve been overwhelmed.”
• “Oops, I usually don’t make these kinds of mistakes. I’m sorry, I feel embarrassed.”

And so on.

You’d think we’d know that this should be the only way to respond—but no! 

There are much less gentle responses, such as, “I’m such an idiot!” or “Not again! I can’t believe I messed this up again!!!!” or, “It would’ve been so great if I didn’t !@#$ this up!” or, “I can’t believe how much more time this is going to take!” or “!@#$ THIS!”

Ideally, every time you make a mistake, you’ll hear someone—or yourself!—say, “The mistake is OK, everybody makes mistakes.” 

Because we do.

P.S., Oops is not an excuse to get away with bad behavior; use it as such as people will be much less gracious with your, “Oops.”

See also productive gentleness.