[Industrialblog,
May 10, 2004]
People who answer questions, and people who don't
One thing I've noted among people with whom I deal is this: There are people who answer questions, and people who don't. That is, you ask a question that requires some thought, and some people say, "Well, with all the normal disclaimers, the answer is somewhere between here and there." And other people refuse to answer until they actually do all the work — perhaps they've been held to previous guesses and simply refuse now.
I understand the second type, but I really prefer to work with the first. People who answer questions fall into two types: bullshitters and experts at guessing. Either way it's win for me: It's usually easy to tell if they're bullshitters or not.
For a house I'm building, I like one contractor a lot, but he's not the type of guy who likes to give out a non-exact answer. I asked him to make an estimate, and he refused to give me any numbers at all. Instead, he went through an intelligent period of information-gathering. But then he went too far.
He knows the answer, but he snail-mailed me my price quotes — and then e-mailed me to tell me about both price quotes and that they are on their way. Lovely. I sent him an e-mail back suggesting that he may want to simply e-mail me the prices, and gave a short communication on how I prefer someone who answers questions to someone who hedges, hems and haws.
After all, any builder with experience would have a pretty good idea how much a house would cost to build after I answered his questions, but he still refused to guess. I've met many people who could give me a range at that time. So if I get this guy to understand that I understand the idea of ranges, and caveats, and changeable situations, that's fine. A good builder needs to be able to tolerate ambiguity, and I'd rather have a guess now. But he's try to close the deal on an estimate, and while I appreciate the drive behind it, I still would've preferred the original estimate.
FWIW.
In the meantime I wait to hear.
UPDATE: He got back to me. Close to my estimates, just a little higher. Oh well. Probably back to the drawing board.
I understand the second type, but I really prefer to work with the first. People who answer questions fall into two types: bullshitters and experts at guessing. Either way it's win for me: It's usually easy to tell if they're bullshitters or not.
For a house I'm building, I like one contractor a lot, but he's not the type of guy who likes to give out a non-exact answer. I asked him to make an estimate, and he refused to give me any numbers at all. Instead, he went through an intelligent period of information-gathering. But then he went too far.
He knows the answer, but he snail-mailed me my price quotes — and then e-mailed me to tell me about both price quotes and that they are on their way. Lovely. I sent him an e-mail back suggesting that he may want to simply e-mail me the prices, and gave a short communication on how I prefer someone who answers questions to someone who hedges, hems and haws.
After all, any builder with experience would have a pretty good idea how much a house would cost to build after I answered his questions, but he still refused to guess. I've met many people who could give me a range at that time. So if I get this guy to understand that I understand the idea of ranges, and caveats, and changeable situations, that's fine. A good builder needs to be able to tolerate ambiguity, and I'd rather have a guess now. But he's try to close the deal on an estimate, and while I appreciate the drive behind it, I still would've preferred the original estimate.
FWIW.
In the meantime I wait to hear.
UPDATE: He got back to me. Close to my estimates, just a little higher. Oh well. Probably back to the drawing board.