This study aimed to understand the lived meaning of managerial error from the perspective of managers in an Iranian public university. While existing literature has mostly treated error as a quantitative variable and examined it through typologies and individual, group, and organizational antecedents, less attention has been paid to how managers experience and make sense of error within specific historical–cultural contexts. Using a qualitative design and Gadamerian hermeneutic phenomenology, we conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with managers of various units at Vali-Asr University and analyzed the data through the hermeneutic circle and interpretive thematic analysis. The findings showed that managerial error, in the participants’ horizon of understanding, is not an exception but a normal part of organizational life, emerging at the intersection of a patronage-based appointment structure, a culture of “Roodarbaisti” (face-saving), relational considerations, and weak evaluation and documentation systems. Managers simultaneously perceived error as a threat to reputation and trust, and as a potential opportunity for learning; however, in the absence of an error management culture, this positive potential largely remains at the level of individual experience and fails to translate into formal policies and procedures. This research demonstrates that the meaning of error in this context is the product of the interweaving of managers' interpretive horizons with the specific cultural and institutional contexts of the university under study. Accordingly, recommendations are offered for revising appointment procedures, establishing evidence-based evaluation systems, and creating institutional platforms for dialogue around error.