Question on how to handle office politics

[The Cool Thatguy]

To start, I wanna preface this with the fact that I have little to no ability to recognize office politics. I'm more a drone kinda guy, but I'm concerned I might have an issue so hence the question.

So this last month has been unkind to me. I feel like I'm that French Waiter from the Simpsons, stumbling from one easily avoided screw up to another. My boss, not without cause, likely regards me as the weakest link. I'm banished to the kiddie table, at the moment.

My problem is that I helped recruit some friends to my old job, to bring them to my current office. They will be starting soon, and while both are smart I worry their gratitude might color their opinions of me.

What should I do to make sure the stink of my screw-ups doesn't affect them?

[Mister Mets]

It's excellent how considerate you are regarding your employer and friends/ coworkers.

I don't know the specifics here so answers may be different if you're an anesthesiologist who keeps mixing up 10mg and 100mg, or a librarian who sometimes drops paperwork.

I don't know how much you'll be working with your friends, so that's an issue.

I'm guessing you want to be better at your job, so one bit of advice would be to focus on 1-2 things to reduce the Simpsons French waiter screw-ups. Is there a program/ appliance you can use more effectively? Should you make time for something important? Modest improvements would help your self-esteem and what your bosses think of you.

It's entirely possible that much of this is in your head. A lot of people have imposter syndrome. I'm sure there's stuff you do well that explains why your bosses keep you.

Your friends will likely be busy learning the nuances of the new job. I don't know what you've told them, but you should probably tell them what happened to get you sent to the kiddie table, so that they don't make the same mistake.

[The Cool Thatguy]

I work in an office with paperwork and one main client.

Sad to say, my screwups are not Imposter Syndrome, so much as something in a file, that I can see that I did while in a rush