“I was just following orders” never sounded good in history class. Don’t use it at work.

Being told to do something does not transfer the doing. The instruction explains why you started and never covers what you chose to carry out, which is why that excuse sounds thin everywhere it gets used. At work it usually follows something small: a figure to round off, a complaint to lose, a customer to leave with the wrong impression.

When an instruction feels wrong, ask one clarifying question out loud, because a fair number of them change shape right there. If the answer holds, you can say you are not comfortable and ask to be shown how it is normally handled. Note down what you were asked and when.