There are many experiences in life that we hear about from others but cannot truly appreciate until we go through them ourselves and feel their full intensity.

Early in my career, I worked at a small company where the CEO was known for expressing his feedback and opinions in a very blunt and often harsh manner. On one occasion, he was sharing feedback and observations from a recent client visit in his usual direct style. As he was also responsible for marketing and sales, he had a habit of demonstrating product features to clients even when those features were still under development.

I clearly remember him saying that when he clicked a button during the demo to showcase a particular functionality, it failed to work and at that moment, he said, he “looked like a fool.” After the meeting, my colleagues and I returned to our work as usual.

Some time later, our team began developing a new, more advanced, and visually improved version of the core product’s Transaction Module. One day, the CEO called to inform me that he might be visiting a large customer who had recently signed a contract with us and whose system was currently in the UAT phase. He shared his intention to demonstrate the new Transaction Module during the visit and asked me to join remotely to conduct the demo.

I prepared thoroughly for the demonstration. I practiced repeatedly, running several test transactions through the new module. As part of my routine testing, the transaction amounts were usually under $100, and each successful transaction generated a receipt for confirmation. As the demo day approached, I ensured that everything was working flawlessly.

The demo itself started very smoothly. I followed each step exactly as I had practiced. However, when entering the transaction amount, I input $500 instead of my usual amount below $100. I assumed that, given the size of the organization, a higher transaction value would appear more realistic. As soon as I clicked the proceed button, a red bar appeared on the screen indicating that a compliance rule had been triggered.

Instantly, I remembered that a test compliance check existed for transactions exceeding $300. I also recalled that, as recently as the previous day, the development team was still working on the compliance module. Once triggered, the transaction was not supposed to proceed any further. At that moment, it felt as though all my preparation was about to be undone.

That was the awkward moment when I realized I might become “the face of a fool.”

To my surprise and great relief, the transaction completed successfully, and the receipt appeared on the screen. I later learned that the developer had deployed an updated patch just minutes before the demo.

The key lesson I took away from this experience is that there is a significant difference between controlled practice sessions and real-world demonstrations. No matter how well prepared you are, live environments introduce variables that practice alone can never fully replicate.