Session 9: Words vs. Actions

Design a concrete repair action for a harm that no apology alone would fix

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Before the session, bring or select an apology that would pass every test this course has built so far: specific, responsible, no hedging, properly timed, correctly addressed — and attach it to a situation where, as far as you know, nothing changed afterward. The courier case from lecture is one model; a workplace, institutional, or personal case works just as well if the gap between wording and aftermath is real.

In the session, don’t touch the wording again — it’s already adequate, and rewriting it is Session 3’s exercise, not this one. Instead, design at least three separate repair actions the situation calls for, and for each one, name which of the four outcomes it actually addresses: restitution, behaviour change, structural repair, prevention of recurrence. Some actions will address more than one; some situations won’t need all four.

Then go back to the apology’s own sentences and check them against your list: did the wording promise any of these actions already (“this won’t happen again,” “we’ll make sure of it”)? If so, that action isn’t something you’re adding — it’s something already owed and unpaid. Mark which of your three actions fall into that category, and which are extra, beyond what the words committed to.

If two of your three repair actions turn out to target the same outcome once you look closely, don’t pad the list to reach three that are only nominally distinct. Report two well-differentiated actions and say explicitly why a third, different action wasn’t available for this case — a repair set that’s thin because the situation genuinely only calls for two things is a more honest result than three actions where one is just the other one restated.

Afterwards, trade cases with another group and check their mapping: does each proposed action clearly target one of the four outcomes, or does one of their “repairs” quietly just repeat the apology in a different form?

Check your understanding