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📖 The Mechanic Parable: A Story About Expectations

6 mins
Table of Contents

One morning I start my car and notice a repeating knocking noise coming from the engine. Everything else seems to be working fine and the car seems drivable, so I look up a mechanic nearby to drop my car off. I need to get to work, so I look for a mechanic nearby that I can drop my car off, and they can fix it while I’m at work. When I arrive at the mechanic, they ask me to describe the problem with my vehicle. They ask when the noise started, the last time I had the car in for inspection, and they have me walk them around the vehicle. Before I hand over the keys, I mention

- “This is my ride home, do you think the car will be ready by end of today?”

- “We won’t know for sure until we get the car in the shop, but at first glance we should have it done by lunch.” the mechanic replies

- “Great! Also, how much do you think this will set me back?” I ask.

- “Well that is harder to say. I’ll give you a call before we start any work, so you know what the damage will be. Sound good?”

- “Yeah that’s perfect. Thanks again for fitting me in on short notice.”

Who are you in this story?
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  • Mechanics are the Engineers
  • Customers are the Stakeholders

Identifying Expectations
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What are my expectations of the mechanic?
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  1. Fix the car.
  2. Call me with an estimate before starting any work.
  3. Done early (by lunchtime) which is way before my ideal deadline (end of my workday).

What are the mechanic’s expectations?
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  1. The problem I described to them is “in the ballpark” of the actual problem.
  2. I will answer the phone when they call with the estimate.
Takeaway: Know what is expectedExpectations are both explicit and implicit. Keep an eye out for both kinds. Write them down and if you are unsure, ask the other parties if you understood them correctly.

Estimating work
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The noise my car is making is a common issue the Mechanic has seen several times before. Does he take the car into the back to open the car up and give me an estimate? No. He does some quick math and quotes me $500 and 4 hours to fix it.

If my car was an EV that he’s never seen before. They’ll tell me they need to take it into the back to run a diagnostic. It’ll cost them $100 in labor to do that, and then follow up with me on an estimate and timeline for a fix.

Takeaway: Your word is your bondEstimation is a tool that is necessary in some cases and overkill in others. What matters is that what you deliver is accurate. If you’re confident, skip unnecessary steps. Just know that I am going to expect to pay $500 and pickup the car in 4 hours if that is what was the estimate I was given.

Negotiating deliverables
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Now think about both sides of this relationship: customer and mechanic. Both of us are the stakeholders in the same project which is “getting my car fixed”. Each of us have choices we can make without impacting the other. The mechanic can change how he is going to fix the car, they can also decide how much they want to charge me for the work. I can decide whether I want to pay that amount or not, I can decide to pick my car up early.

What I cannot do is tell the mechanic how I want him to fix it or how much they should charge me. Could I make a suggestion? Definitely! Can I demand it? No. The mechanic has similar limitations in the decisions they are allowed to make.

Takeaway: Compromise, but don't compromise your credibilityThe customer is bringing you the work. It is the job of the mechanic to give a confidence estimate on how much it will cost and how long it will take. This boundary should be respected, and it will create healthy tensions. The customer may push to get it done sooner or cheaper. The mechanic can try to adapt the work to fit these requests, but at the end of the day the car still must be safe and reliable to drive. If the mechanic allows themselves to deliver a vehicle that is unsafe to drive due to cutting corners they’re out of business (and likely to spend years in court). No one asks them what the circumstances were that forced the mechanic to deliver a dangerous vehicle.

Delivery
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When the mechanic hands me the keys to my car, let’s say he gives me two different responses:

  1. Your car is all ready. Thanks for your business and hope you think of us next time!
  2. Your car is all ready. Before you go on any main roads, do you mind driving it around a bit and make sure it’s working ok?

Which response instills more confidence? Response 1.

Why not Response 2? One could argue that Response 2 is a mechanic trying to deliver better customer service and make sure the customer is satisfied with their work. Yes that may be what the mechanic intended. However, can you see how the customer may be a bit concerned if things were done properly or to a high standard? The customer may be saying to themselves “I’m not a mechanic, I don’t even know what to look for! Isn’t that what I paid you to take care of for me?”

Takeaway: Done means doneWhen delivering valuable work, take the time to make sure it’s done. Don’t force the customer to do the QA that you could have done. Don’t raise undue concern to the customer by asking them to “double check” something you already did. If you truly concerned about it, check the work a second, third or fourth time yourself before telling the customer that it’s “done”.

Where to go next
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The mechanic story introduces four ideas that the rest of this handbook builds on: