My son Derek started working with me full time since his High School graduation in May 2007. He went to a college prep school so his counselors were none too pleased with his goal to join his Pops at the car repair shop.
My fault, really. I put books in front of him at a very young age. Books with titles like Rich Dad, Poor Dad and “Influence, the Psychology of Persuasion”. He absorbed it all like a sponge.
Showed him real life examples of successful people, sometimes in person, more often in biographies.
Taught him that being self employed is noble and building a business is more rewarding than working for the man.
He listened.
Weird kid.
Stranger still, he then turned around and taught what he was learning to his buddies. He told them to read the same books, to think differently.
Now, he works in PDR. Does excellent.
‘Of course he does, Tim, he works with you one on one’
I knew you would say this. Just like you, he watched the DVD’s before he ever touched a tool.
Before you call him a lucky dog and all that, understand working for me, with me, ain’t no cup of tea.
Early on, he discovered the importance of learning from another’s example not just what to do, but also what not to do. How to behave and how not to. Like every parent, I claim to know what is best, yet do not always follow it. Am I worried?
Oh, yeah. I’ve seen plenty of parents tell their kids not to smoke while simultaneously lighting up a Marlboro. And I’m well aware that children sometimes ape what they see us do.
The goal is not to make little clones of ourselves. Instead we strive to help them outdo, outlive, outperform what we couldn’t or chose not to do. Not in the manner of the Little League Dad standing at the backstop yelling at his kid. No, when you push they often or at least will someday, push back. Hopefully, we act in a manner that pulls them along to the best they can be.
We share our life in little stories and let them sort out what is a good example and what is a bad one. Young persons learn very early how to see past Mom and Dad’s delusions. Though we might find great comfort in them, the kids are too smart for this.
Now, I can live vicariously through him and his brothers. If you have young ones, do all you can to keep your relationship with them strong and open. Not only will they one day choose your nursing home, they are likely the only monument to your life that means much.
Three Strikes and You’re Out
Last month, I told you about Jon, one of my first students. I got some interesting reaction about his working for Dent Wizard. To many techs, they represent everything that is wrong about the industry. In fact, they have become the big target and a convenient scape goat.
One trainer I spoke with said, “What Dent Wizard is famous for is training someone for seven weeks and then just as they are about to finish training and hit the real dents, they let them go. Bad news if you just got canned, but is this the end of story?
Take a birds eye view for a moment. See it from the company’s perspective. What criteria are they looking for in a keeper tech?
- Can this person fix dents?
- Can they fix dents in a fashion that is quick and with quality?
- Can they fix dents here?
Now, take all the above questions and stick, ‘Will they?’ in front of them.
From this view, its clear not every person is a fit for what they need or want.
DW is very open about the possibility of your washing out of the business. It is no secret and should not be a surprise to those dismissed or those who work next to him. Likely had more to do with his attitude than technical ability.
Jon talked about the storm he worked at where he saw guys invited to leave immediately. He talked about how this pushed him to perform. When your bottom is on the line, you either deliver or wash out. All there is to it.
From an employee’s perspective, pretty crappy. Jump into a manager’s shoes and you get it, instantly.
I admit to having a misguided view of employees. I have fired some and afterwards wondered why I allowed them to stay on so long. I thought somehow putting up with their attitude, habitual tardiness and other issues was helping them.
Nuh-uh. All I did was become the enabler. Now I see that cutting someone loose is likely the wake up call they need. A little tough love goes a long way. Not always, of course. Up to them.
Hopefully the person just dismissed from Dent Wizard takes a hard look at what just happened.
Yeah, it stinks, but what led up to it? Is there something about me what needs changing or is this a message I’m looking to be in a business I’m not well suited for?
After the bleeding stops, somewhere a realization that the company lost something too has to take over. They made an investment in me and now they cut their losses?
Wow. The families of addicts pay big money for this kind of intervention.
“I’m fixing the small dents, but I can’t get the big ones.”
This is the phone call I get on occasion. I asked another trainer if he gets the same call.
He said, “Absolutely. I’m hard on my students, I tell them like it is. ‘If you are getting the small ones out, then just keep working the small ones. Why do you keep trying to fix stuff above your skill level?’”
“But shouldn’t I be better by now?”
I actually said this to my boss/trainer. With his answer he put it squarely back where it should be, squarely on my shoulders.
“I don’t know, should you?”
We all want something. We all want it now. Yet, deep down, we know, things easily gained are seldom appreciated.
If you want something bad enough, not much can keep you from it. In fact, I could build in you a fire like you’ve never felt by telling you no. You can’t have it. Won’t get it. Not going to let you.
Now you want it really bad. See? You’re still just a kid looking at a candy bar at the store knowing you might get a yes from Mom if you just ask for it differently. Over and over.
It is why Dent Wizard’s method works. Its also why having a varsity and a second and third string on a team also works. It drove my brother in high school band to reach “First Chair”. When the rubber meets the road and self motivation fails you, something else must kick in. Whether its fear of being dismissed or the thought of letting someone down. Accountability is a must.
Most of us are flat out manic when it comes to keeping our commitments to others. Its an outstanding quality and I like it in you. Trouble is we let go of or sacrifice the commitments which are most important, the ones we make to ourselves.
There is a key for you and its not the same one as the next guy. This key is the thing that drives you, your reason for pursuit. You may well find it hiding in some ugly places in your life, but be brave and go deep if need be.
How Committed?
I burned my ships in a sense when I first learned paintless. I left behind all the relationships, all the contacts I had in the body business in Oklahoma City and moved to Tulsa.
I could no longer pick up the phone, say hello to the paint store rep and ask, who’s looking for a painter or body man? New town, new situation.
Funny, as I left the last auto body man position I had, the manager told me, “I’ll be glad when this paintless thing blows over and the good techs come back to work.”
It was the closest to a compliment he’d ever given.
Could I have given up? Turned back to my grinding metal ways? Sure, and no one would have judged me for it. But I wanted out and I wanted my time back. No more sitting in a shop with no cars to work on. No more time clock cards dictating my schedule.
Now, when the kids have an event in the middle of the day at school, I’m there. If there is one thing I love about this business its flexibility. My schedule is my own. Occasionally I slip back into letting customers dictate, but I nip it in the bud. If you run a retail shop you have to keep retail hours, right? Wrong.
Too many times I’ve sat and waited for a customer to bring their car in at a certain time only to find they aren’t quite as dedicated to their commitment to me as I am to theirs. Now, I ask where the car is and I go look at it in person. This does two things, frees up my time as I go look at a car that was just sitting there anyway, and it puts me in first place when a competitive decision is made.
‘Well, he did come all the way out and look at it for us’, its unspoken but there nonetheless.
The coolest part is, this won’t work in a hailstorm or busy season, but its easy to change back and forth. During a storm you’ve got a parade of cars and likely you need to be in one spot more than you need to be running across town.
Your business is adaptable as you want it to be. There is no set way of doing something. Its up to you.
‘Its a 24/7 world and I’ve got to make it convenient for customers.’
Ok, then, hire someone to mind the store. Train them to write estimates. Doesn’t need to be a dent tech. Show your receptionist what you can fix and what you can’t. Let him or her fill the dates you want to work. For me, too much trouble, but I’ve seen it done.
What could be more convenient than doing a drive by?
Time is the most precious commodity we are given and it keeps moving whether we use it wisely or not. Given the choice, I’m with my family as much as possible.
Even as a dent guy working as employee there were days where I wasn’t working a full eight. Fortunately, a big central library was nearby and lunch was often spent there.
Funny, I never thought of myself as compulsive about time until my wife noticed how some unmentionable bodily functions don’t happen unless there is a book in my hand.
I waste time as much as the next guy on TV way too often, but I’m getting better.
Meditation vs. obsession
Did you ever notice how memories of a vacation tend to exaggerate over time? The way you feel when you just get home is far out shined by the way you’ll feel in a year. Sometimes the memory is so much better than the real event, you go back to the same place one more time,trying to recapture the magic. If you’re like me, you soon say things like, “I think it was more fun first time around.”
I believe it is the act of meditating on the event which makes this happen.
This is not the Swami or Yoga kind of meditation.
Another word for it is rumination. When a cow chews its cud or brings back up the undigested food and chews it some more, it is ruminating.
Your experiences, what you learn, become under-absorbed thoughts waiting for a deeper trip down the digestive tubes of your mind.
The brain takes the bits and pieces and files them together along with their associated senses. The view, the smells, the sounds are put in a box along with the feeling of freedom from day to day cares which is a vacation. Soon enough, we can open this mental scrapbook at will and it all feels good. We forget the airport delays, the lost luggage, or any other mishap we might have endured, only the high points remain.
The same process can work against you if you are not careful with your thoughts.
We could fall into a trap of negative meditation, or obsession. Negative events can take on added weight under the microscope of constant mental reenactments.
The only difference between the two activities of meditation and obsession is the end result. Both are mental exercises, therefore one can be exchanged for the other.
If you find you are dwelling on a negative thought too long, try this. Ask yourself: what did I learn from this event? How does this fit in with what I knew then and what I know now? Do I still feel the same? What can be learned from it since some of the pain has subsided?
Now you are ruminating in a positive sense. An extreme makeover on the event in the sense of how you see it, feel about it, and learn from it.
The lesson here is the importance of now. Today.
Knowing our memories are plastic, moldable gives us a sense of the need to be real about what is happening now.
Are we going to be able to pull this off?
Interesting things occur under the time pressure of a hail event. Jon shared with me some negotiating points made to secure a spot in a body shop and above is the question he and partner Keith asked each other.
They practiced now thinking and soon the answer came.
‘This happens every time we set up a hail storm. We have the same feeling of dread and we’re always fine. There’s going to be hiccups, but hey, we always deliver.’
Its a great example of choosing to deal with what is real and what is happening now rather than projecting forward about what might happen.
You See What I See – Redux
A window tinter friend of mine is one of the best I’ve ever seen.
I asked, “Have you ever had the feeling you don’t know as much as you need to know? The feeling there is someone better than you, who knows more and can do better at tinting than you?”
“Absolutely,” he offered, “but one day I just decided ‘its only window tint’ and stopped caring about anything but what I was doing. I stopped worrying about it. And you know what? From then on, I really started getting good at it.”
I leave you with this: never be intimidated by the guys who claim they have a better way to fix a dent. The fundamental principles of PDR have not changed. Use the reflection, push the highs and knock down the lows.
As PM student Cody Claxton says, “I just can’t believe that PDR is the rocket science those guys make it out to be.”
‘Tis true Cody. No one knows what you think they know.
Happy pushing,
Tim Olson