I am occasionally amazed.
At the “Expert” thing. You know, an expert is someone who had to come more than 50 miles to fix the problem. Once I show people what I’m doing they can usually duplicate it. And nothing I do is that hard, at least for me. So why is it that nobody else will even try?
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Try. That is the rub.
Often people are amazed that I fix things.
I try. Sometimes fail, sometimes succeed.
But if I don’t try to fix it, it is a boat anchor anyway, so if I try and fail, the worst thing that happens is that it is still broke.
But I get the credit for being a “genius: or “Magician” because I try and they don’t.
It is all based on willingness to try and fail, learn from failing and do it right next time. Or in my case, look at the problem, figure out how the item that does not work fits or functions, then fix it, and if I can use someones past experience and learning curve as a springboard, all the better as that saves time, money and smashing or rendering of flesh , but that too is part of the learning curve. As my pappy used to say, if a Japanese or German assembled it, by god I can dismantle and rebuild it to run better (British roots and all).
If “X” is an unknown quantity, and a “spurt” is a drip of water under pressure, then an expert is an unknown drip under pressure.
It’s all about being willing to fail… We are, because we are willing to try. Many won’t ‘risk’ failure…
Fear. It permeates modern corporations. I think it might be something in the air conditioner filters.
Exactly as Terrapod put it. Look at whats broke, what is it not doing that it should. Learn how it is supposed to function and figure out what is keeping it from doing that and repair/replace it. done.
I feel sorry for people who have to call a tow truck to get a tire changed.
It’s already been said, but the bottom line is, most people don’t try a possible fix because they’re afraid they might break it more.
Ed: With my shoulders and hands, if I can’t break the lug nuts easily, my phone is out and I’m calling AAA :) Don’t forget, some of us old farts are broken ourselves :)
If they succeed they will have to do it the next time it occurs. More work does not go over with some people. They don’t think about their own increased value.
Nathan: physical disability is a perfectly valid reason to get some help with something like that! I’m talking about the people who can’t figure out how to do it even when given the instructions and must call someone from afar to work miracles. And the people who won’t try, for whatever reason, wearing their ignorance as a badge of honor.
I’m pushing 50; I’m just about to the “you kids get off my lawn!” stage, myself.
Don’t forget the clip board. Really helps sell the expert thing.
I too have found it bizzare the number of times capable people have waited for rescue. It never made sense to me that my 23 year old self with just a few months of experience was allowed (much less able) to direct mechanics and machinists of 30 years.
More often than not I find people will not or cannot break out of their comfort zone. Not having a comfort zone or having a very broad one seems to make it easier to do new things. Having someone else there to call an expert means people can follow instructions (or at least pretend to) and remain in their comfort zone.
Hell, 500 miles was the expert line when I was traveling as one. 50 has to be better. At that range you can drive instead of fly.
Some of it might be the “how will I get it back together” if I take it apart.
I seem to be one that wants to take things apart to see how they work.
Sometimes it just seemed to take awhile to get it back together and maybe even looking at the manual.
But I have learned to look at the manual first (most of the time).
One vendor would tell their customers a “field engineer” would be on site to diagnose and repair the new equipment we sold you that you didn’t need in the first place and don’t understand how to use because we sent sales people to train your operators. And then I (screw driver guy) would show up. I have asked the customer where the equipment was located and they say you’re leaning against it. OJT is the best school sometimes.
I’ve found most operators don’t care and would rather sit and wait for the tech than be industrious and find other work or attempt repair of the equipment. I hate being in between our sales people and the customer, I so want to tell them all the truth of the situation but I guess I’ll go to hell with a paying job.
Ed: Agreed! Some folks couldn’t pour piss out of a boot with instructions printed on the heel. Dealt with a couple of customers like that yesterday.
Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Most folks these days have no will…especially if they can get someone else to do it for them. I used to get an adrenaline rush out of fixing something nobody else could fix. Problem is that once you get a rep as Mr. Fixit you have to fix EVERYTHING for EVERYBODY. My patience-o-meter with low motivation people is pegged on zero these days. If you haven’t at least tried to fix the problem yourself I will refuse to help you. I’ll tell you where to find the answer, but I ain’t doing your work for you.
That goes for family too. Recently my SIL feigned helplessness. She “couldn’t figure out” how to put batteries in some device and wanted me to do it for her. I reminded her that she has a Masters Degree and that if she applied herself I was sure that she could figure it out and that I was not going to deprive her of the joy she would experience by overcoming this obstacle herself. My wife kicked me under the table.
One phrase I hear often that has really started pissing me off is “I’m not trained” to do this or that. Grrrrrrrr. I’ve never been trained to do 99.99% of the stuff I do.
Rant off.
There is another factor. There are damn-few people who can build a complete (part-accurate) mental model of a complex system they can then use to predict how different components will fail and how the failure will present to the user…
You are one of the few…
There is an old joke about the retired engineer who charged $10,010 for a repair. When the customer asked for an itemized receipt he send them:
Replace failed part – $10
Knowing which part failed – $10,000