> I sensed once that I had irritated someone

Solid advice, (but to others reading) don’t optimize for not irritating people.

Especially your professional network. You built those relationships because you wanted to use them in the future, and the future is now… so, tap them! If they don’t like that, no big deal, no sweat, move on.

If you’re irritating multiple people constantly, then yea you’re probably doing something wrong. But if it’s one person once in a blue moon, that happens, don’t over optimize for avoiding that. You can’t make everyone happy