Member-only story
During a recent conversation with a job seeker, the topic of knowing our value came up.
I was reminded of the story about a multi-million dollar private yacht whose engine suddenly started to make a clanking sound.
The ship’s captain immediately called for the most experienced mechanic in town to fix it as he did not want to risk damaging the engine. The mechanic came. He listened intensely to the sound, studied the blueprints of the engine, did some calculations, checked his notes and, when he was satisfied, took out his hammer. The mechanic then gave the crankweb a light tap. The clanking sound instantly stopped, and the engine ran perfectly again.
The ship’s captain was extremely happy and asked for the invoice. When he saw that he had been billed $10,000 by the mechanic, he was shocked. In his opinion, the mechanic did nothing other than use his hammer to tap the engine. This certainly did not justify a five-figure fee. Feeling cheated, the captain asked the mechanic for a breakdown of his charges. The mechanic wrote:
- tapping the crankweb: $50
- knowing where and how hard to tap: $9,950.
While this story may be an exaggeration, it does however illustrate the point about the value of professional knowledge gained over years of study and experience. In the story, a…
