The Thought That Shifted Adam Savage's Relationship With Jamie Forever

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I appreciate the effort you put into trying to understand a question rather than rushing towards an answer.

I will always be thankful for the dynamic that the two of you shared on MythBusters, not just because it made the show better, but for anyone who knew the relationship the two of you had behind the scenes, it was a very good example of professional respect and working with somebody in an environment that you might not have gotten along with on a personal level. In my life, I've had co-workers that I don't get along with on a personal level, but we've never had issues buckling down together professionally to do what's expected of us. Seeing a healthy business relationship for so many years produce so many things is a source of inspiration that I think a lot of people overlook when discussing MythBusters, and I wanted to let you know that even if it's not as visible, it's greatly appreciated.

My favorite type of manager says, "Here's the task, and this is how long you have to get it done. You have the authority to do what you need to meet these goals," and then disappears until I report that I'm finished.

“I don’t have to win this argument right now” and “The world will solve this problem for me later.” — WOW. Adam, THANK YOU.

The best thing about these videos is the very natural pauses you allow between sentences. It's refreshing to give each thought that minute to settle.

My mother had this problem selling ceramics. She had this one piece that just wasn't selling when other people weere selling the same piece at double the price. She added $15 to the price. Problem solved. Know your market. If you sell something too cheap people will assume it's crap.

“They are working through trauma” - you just made dozens of personal interactions with micro-managers make sense. Seriously. Thank you.

The absolute worst manager is one that swings back and forth between micro and laissez faire because of the chaos it creates.

"Micro managers are dealing with some sort of trauma" so true and insightful.

To me one of the signs of being a "grown up" is the fact you don't have to win an argument and can just wait and let the person learn for themselves that the stove is hot or that black doesn't reflect as many photons as white or whatever the matter is.

As a Manager for many years in the Restraunt industry I always took the stance of " I don't care what you do, so long as the customer is happy, and the job gets done in a Timely manner, And its to the company Standard"

Thank you Adam; your insight into both “is this a problem I need to solve now,” (along with its analog, do I really need to fight this battle), and the “micromanagers as people who are dealing with trauma,” hit me right where I needed to be hit this evening. Great timing!

At my last "real job" that I only lasted 5-ish months at, my direct supervisor was the single worst micromanager I have ever met. I was writing up an internal informational document from our department that was literally just going to be hung in the break room. Nobody was ever going to see it outside of our employees, and nobody whatsoever was going to do anything except read the text (and if we're honest, almost nobody would even be doing that). I wrote it up, sent it to her for approval, and she calls me over to her desk and asks me to identify "what I think is wrong with this document". After what felt like 5 minutes of standing there and shooting apart my own work, I came up with nothing. Turns out that one of the blank lines I had used for spacing was an 11pt font blank line rather than a 12pt font blank line. What had likely happened was that I had enlarged the text to better fill out the space and (understandably) did not think to enlarge the size of the blank line because I didn't even realize it HAD a font size associated with it. She could have fixed it herself and not even brought it up, so the project would be finished. She could have reformatted the template to remove the need to even have that object there and head the issue off at the pass. But she didn't. She forced me to stand there and flounder for several minutes trying to find fault in my own work, wasting my time and her own time, before telling me to go back to my desk and fix it before resubmitting it for approval. That one, single experience impregnated me with utter, unflinching contempt for micromanagers of any stripe.

I began my freelance graphic design and web design business back in 1996. I made many mistakes at first, but as it turned out, they were nothing more than the cost of my tuition in the school of hard knocks as I learned from my mistakes and thus sharpened my business focus. One of the things that I learned is that those potential customers who come to you seeking "Walmart prices" you simply pass up as they are not the clientele you are seeking so it makes no sense to waste time and money trying to land a client that you do not want anyway. Instead, focus in on those clients who know and understand the value of what you offer and thus they are happy to pay the additional cost. As a matter of fact, underpricing your products/services will only serve to give the impression that you offer lower quality products/services and thus the clients that you seek will pass you up. Fine diners do not go to posh restaurants and ask, "do you have a value menu?"

Adam, I agree about Micromanagers and the difficulty in getting things done. Yes, far more energy is expended. Thanks once again for taking my question.

I need to remember your words as a mantra. “Do I need to fix this or will the universe fix it for me?” Sometimes it’s best to just stand back and let things play out to their conclusions rather than fight about it. I needed to hear this. I’m tired of fighting.

Adam answers each of these from such a considerate and grounded perspective, very refreshing to hear somebody speak very open and honestly

I learned to tell myself that I had no power over anything when getting delayed in traffic or taking public transportation, so I shouldn't bother putting energy into it. It was very liberating.

When speaking efficiency, I have heard the saying "Slow is Smooth, Smooth is fast". I think it is a wonderful saying. If you take the time to be methodical, diligent, and pruposeful you, likely, end up saving time.