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i actually really love the relationship you and jaime had over the years, like you've said before...you guys weren't best friends, but you worked so well together because of it. its the perfect bond of two completely different ethos' that actually compliment each other so well.
Despite any other differences, it seems like they were absolutely in step with each other about the integrity of the show and presenting a united front on that issue.
There's a LOT the world could learn from these two working so well together, despite being basically polar opposites outside of work! The works would be a better place... _(on that note, which I've said before, if we all acted just 50% of how Adam does, how _*_massively different_*_ the world would be!! [for the better, obviously])_ @@JimorianYes! And Adam has even said they became _SO_ in sync that when operating loud machinery, they could make vague gestures to each other and they immediately knew what was implied.
@@DUKE_of_RAMBLE Working well with someone no matter the venture is awesome but it never has to go beyond the working environment. Anything after work is a plus but it never has to go beyond that.
@@Valterius87 I guess that's my point? World leaders are kind of coworkers with each other, so working together in a civil and cooperative manner for the achievement of their end-goals (not being at war with each other) would be great! _[yes, admittedly the analogy isn't great, since it's more like CEOs of various companies, but my underlying point is the same lol]_
@@Valterius87 True, there's never an expectation of co-workers needing to be best friends outside of the office. Though if it's like two business partners, there's certainly more of a need for them to work on their relationship like a husband/wife dynamic as Adam said. I once worked for a company where the owners were always at odds, having arguments amongst each other on company-wide meetings and such. Not good for morale.
@@txwombat7826 they are "not friends." That photo from when Adam found Jamie at an airport after the show ended spoke volumes. I would bet money that Jamie does not watch Tested ... he even used to part-own it and then sold his stake. He's dunzo.
@@tested You can tell that Jamie probably didnt like the idea of working on the show just because he seemed so stoic but that didnt compromise his work ethic which I can say I got a little bit of that in my life. Put your work forward and let results speak for themselves and if you are wrong its because someone didnt value you being there. That alone to me speaks volumes because hes a brilliant man, many didnt like his "appearance". But Im glad hes still doing the things he wants to do.
"However the client is going in, is how they're going to be all the way through" works in the other direction as well. When my business is bidding something out, I remind our side that if a potential vendor is treating us poorly now, imagine how they're going to be after they have our money.
Yup, definitely works both ways. I regularly buy expensive specialized equipment for our research institute and sometimes the manufacturers tend to get a bit lazy on their service side of things. Reminding them that they are in fact not the only supplier of machine xy can work wonders sometimes.
@@christiannorf1680 Oh wow, yea! It gets really hairy in scientific and industrial appliances. Unless your field is saturated, it's fairly common to be calling about a 5-figure machine that a grand total of one person knows how to service properly. You gotta learn quickly how to sniff out the trouble you're about to get into. Adam kind of focused on rude or indecisive clients. On both sides, but especially on the supplier, they're just in way over their head. They know all about the product and you're drawn in by the enthusiasm. But they're a solo engineer with the patent to something that's perfect. They do their own itinerary, accounting, and customer service. If you are desperate and need it that badly, you might need to physically mentor/assist that operation. It's very easy to be saddled with a 20-ton paperweight. (I may know a couple real engineers who are in this category)
@@tested Yes, as someone who recently started watching, I am enjoying these videos that are packed with lots of life wisdom. And your exuberant joy in taking the time to share them is so evident. 🤗
A district manager for a tire store chain once told me "Sometimes you have to fire a customer" which is very much similar to adams story. Some people arent worth the effort for their business, their good review or good word of mouth. Some people just wont have a good outcome no matter what you do, so identify them and move on as soon as you can.
Also, pressurised steam is scary stuff. Like, scary in a way you can't really get from just reading about it. The water heater explosion experiment is one thing that really stuck with me.
Adam's advice on working with clients is so spot on !!! Working in Heavy Haul and Recovery, that couldn't be more true, and that advice can be used as interactions with co-workers, friends, family. And especially with spouse/lovers.
90 percent of the government wouldn't be able to get a job at Jack in the Box, never mind elected, if more people heeded that lesson. This is true no matter what country you're in.
From the time I was 18 I worked as a stagehand, an audio engineer, and was employed by various music stores. I left that industry 10 years ago but for over twenty years I wore nothing but black T-shirts and blue or black jeans. I still wear the same thing. My wife says I have the wardrobe of Ernest P Worrell. 😂 I love it though! I rarely have to think about what to wear. Its very liberating!
I'm the same way, it's a simple wardrobe and works with almost any occasion but the most formal. For work we have to wear polo shirts, so I also have amassed an enormous collection of those.
Heh. Kind of reminds me of my wedding. We had a company take care of everything (location, food, drinks etc.) and at times the person planning it seemed totally baffled by us reacting to most of her suggestions with "Sounds good, let's do it". I think organizing weddings is the endgame of working with difficult clients.
Just like how no-one wants to deal with difficult people, I've always found that by being respectful to tradies and paying them straight away, they repay that by always coming out when I want them and they will go out of their way to do exactly what I want....a little courtesy goes a long way.
Ah, yes-the Odette Hawkins lesson. 45 years ago one of my Mom's friends said she was interested in having me make a leaded glass window for her recently added sunroom. I was new to the game and really excited to get a commission. We start the process. I do a drawing, we select glass. Then she decides that isn't quite what she had in mind. We went through this several times. Finally I got frustrated and gave her the pencil and paper and left the glass samples with her and told her I would be happy to build whatever she designed. You would think it would end there. Nope. She got someone to build her a window-fine with me but every time I saw her she complained about the window she got and it really wasn't what she wanted. She complained to everyone about her window and I thought about how lucky I was that it wasn't my work she was constantly complaining about. I went ahead and built the window I had designed for her and gave it to my Mom. Now it hangs in my bedroom and catches the morning sun and I am happy every time I wake up and see it. And...I have gotten many many compliments on what a nice window it is. For a time I worked for a shop that did high end glasswork in the DC area and part of why I got the job was because of a photo of the window that Odette didn't go for and didn't spend the rest of her life complaining about. Lucky me-knowing when to walk away from a client is a good thing to know and it is really hard to do when you are just starting out.
Lmao! That is an AMAZING story. Not only is she complaining about her choice to this day, she's letting people know she would have complained about the alternatives, had the been utilized. Just crazy.
Some people would say... sometimes you fish and other times you cut bait. My new boss (before retirement) was "everything gets a written quote" and when I started 20 years prior, I would tell a customer... this is what I propose, then go into a time and material situation with the stipulation that if things went well it may be cheaper than doing a fixed quote. Of course I would guess high and be a hero for saving the day in the end. If they didn't like my approach, well we had plenty of other customers waiting in the wings. 9 times out of 10, they would call back in a few days and tell us they gave it some thought and liked my approach better. (that means they got other quotes) Anyone asking price up front or trying to bargain automatically got the "I don't wanna do it" price. Sorry, I can't do a good jobs at that dollar amount. Bottom line is if you start offering a bargain, then you will get more bargain hunters... and your life will be miserable. Offer quality and service, you can name your price and the rest can take a hike.
Gotta love the fact that the continuity clip was at the end, despite already being crossed off earlier in the video, also meaning the drinks bottle moved into the starting position at the end. Very clever
My former boss took me along to meet his customers so I could do all the info gathering and quoting instead of him....and eventually the designing, (as I normally did). I shortly thereafter started my own business. My boss was an ass of the first order......but I do owe him my gratitude for showing me that business was not a magical gift bestowed to some and not others. I was his business....and he (unintentionally?) showed me that I was HIS paycheck....when I used to think that he was mine. I work for myself now.
It took me a long time to learn this lesson. I was working in a job, originally in a team of 3, which became a team of 2. One day I came in to learn that they had fired my colleague with no warning. (And no handover which was lots of fun!) So I'm now a team of 1, doing the same job as a team of 3. And I did it. I pride myself on the fact that I did it well, with no complaints. Yes, it was long hours, enormous amounts of overtime and I wasn't paid a huge amount. But I enjoyed the work, so like a schmuck I did it. And then my boss (the company owner) bought a Porsche. And I had the epiphany that, essentially, a lot of my hard work had paid for that car. Yes I should have known theoretically that of course it's a successful private business which he owns so of course he is going to be enriched by it. But part of that success was based on me working stupid hours and getting not much more than minimum wage for it. And that car was a powerful physical embodiment of that. I left that job soon after and got a job at a non-profit. Which had its own share of issues, but at least no-one was getting rich off my hard work.
Great marriage advice. My wife and I have been together for 26 years and "not going crazy at the same time" holds true. When one of us is in crisis, the other is there in an instant for support. Also, great advice about troublesome clients. When I was a web developer, I had to fire a few clients early on in the process.
Last I saw online Jaime was like a VAP ( visiting Associate Professor) in something like R and D at some Scandinavian University. Is that still what he is up to? He seemed very passionate about the prototyping aspects of Mythbusters. I am glad you are fond of and respect Jaime even if you weren't besties. You had a great working dynamic on the show and balanced each other well.
I love that when Adam is going through what he’s answered he says …”continuity..” and circles it off, and then later he answers the continuity question….which If it was a conscious choice is hilarious to me ,and if not then….the world is so wonderful and full of irony
Every time I see Adam on here, I immediately hear the Mythbusters intro and that music. Adam, Jamie, Grant, Tori, and Kari. Was such a great time for tv. The American Chopper, Monster Garage days too.
Omg, thank you Adam, seriously thank you. I just quit a job where my boss was a an absolute jerk and I was told I wouldn’t be paid halfway through one of my work weeks. I decided that I wasn’t going to be treated this way and I left. Of course that means I I left a shit ton of money on the table….supposedly. I honestly don’t think I would have gotten that money anyways. But I would like to thank you because I have been stressing over this for the last three weeks. Wondering if I had made a huge mistake. You just brought me a ton of peace. Thank you for sharing the immense wisdom of yourself and Jamie.
I had a "continuity" situation many years ago! I was videotaping a co-worker going through a field service repair on a piece of our Hospital Equipment. I told him to wear the same shirt for all the shots (over three days or so) and he asked me why. I told him the field service techs were going to do it all at once and him wearing different clothes would be a distraction. He said: "Oh, I get that!" Now doing photography/videography wasn't my job, but somehow at every company I worked for they MADE it part of my job once they knew I knew how to do it! My job title was always "something Engineer" but they all found many more "somethings" for me to do. I didn't care because the pay was the same no matter WHAT I did. AND the Companies bought all the equipment, so I didn't have to use MY gear!
4:57 this is like pure, 100% Nilered distilled, gold powder advice right here. In a different field, but exactly the same thing with clients I've learned the hard way.
Pick your battles was a lesson taught to me earlier on in my career. It takes a while to take to heart because, especially when you're young, your initial reaction is, "but I want all this stuff" - it takes a while to separate which things are more important to you and decide why in order to make your case for the things.
I'm really not the type of guy to watch a lot of TV. But I loved Mythbusters and tbh I deeply miss it. The cast was perfect and there will never be anything on the same level. Thank you and the whole crew for all the great memories of watching that show and talking about it with people.
Hi Adam! I grew up watching mythbusters i really enjoy and learn so much Seeing you now Just like when I was a little girl, lots of love from Paraguay 🇵🇾❤️
Great advice about clients. Every small business has clients that they wish would go away. My first job as a teenager was to answer the calls from a certain client. It wasn't that he was a bad person but his questions were too trivial he was tying up more important members of staff for hours. This also goes for interviews, don't expect anything different when you join the company.
This is a wonderful continuity from Myth Busters, a deep peek behind the scenes. Adam has so much wonderful life wisdom he has gained from his experiences and we're so lucky he's ready and eager to share them! It would be great if Jamie could find the time to do a few duo spots with Adam.
SO TRUE!!! Clients who are hard to work with in the beginning will absolutely be hard the rest the way through!!! You certainly can take them if you have more flexibility at the time. Setting boundaries/limits can actually instill confidence and sell professionalism. Change work orders are definitely your friend! If they have timeline issues, reminding them it's important to be responsive turns their complaint into your friend.
Just thank you for making these videos. The visually chaotic but understandably ordered shop that is your bunker of creativity is so familiar it feels like home.
It was only watching these tested videos that made me realise the engineering was only 50% of what you guys were actively working on in MythBusters. The other 50% was making quality TV. You did it so well it just came off as natural when I was a kid, but now I realise just how much work went into that.
Your professionalism far exceeds the standards. I really appreciate both you and Jamie and am so glad there hasn’t been any *John Smith* Exposed videos about anyone you guys worked with. That’s so rare these days it feels like. Always and forever a place where I can come to feel safe. Thank you so much Adam!
I was re-watching an episode of Mythbusters (I think it might have been either Shooting Fish in a Barrel or Killer Whirlpool) where Jamie had gotten pretty filthy and had to change out of his usual outfit, and until that moment I’d never realized how much his clothing internalized into my mental picture of Jamie, because it just felt SO weird to see him wearing something else.
@@hkfifty871 Forgotten that but, yeah, totally get it. In line with Adam's frequent joking on the matter, I did wonder if there really was, say, a secret facility someplace, with hordes of identical Jamies patiently waiting for the signal to go into action. :)
I genuinely think it's even more fascinating how well the two of you worked *because* you didn't get along as friends. Co-workers with extreme respect for the skills, abilities and knowhow of the other person especially in a long term setting like how long the show ran and your working relationship before that, it shows when two people have that level of trust in each other. It's a perfect example of how you don't have to be friends with your coworkers to respect their talents and trust that they can get the job done.
I recently watched the episode where both you and Jamie endured the testing to go to the edge of space, and when push came to shove - Jamie was just like "you are the one who deserves this more" and let you do it. NGL I would have fucking cried lol - that was a HUGE experience, and I would have honestly fought tooth and nail for it. But he just knew you were the more deserving chap for the job. I love him for that!
Jamie's lesson reminds me of something a business leader said during the Great Retirement: "Managers are finally learning that it is better to lose a bad customer than to lose a good employee."
your show was my favourite when I was a child and made want to become an engineer, now I am studying mechanical engineering. Much love and respect from Turkey you are an international inspiration
As someone who does a lot of freelance designing for 3D printing I’ll keep that advice in mind. Some people really have turned out to be a pain in the ass all the way through a job and I shouldn’t have taken it on🤦🏻♀️ Thanks Adam!
It's very satisfying to see the actual love that you and Jamie have for each other. We always "fight" with those we love but the respect and actual love overcomes EVERY time. We don't have to like each other but as Christians (as I am and will ascribe to be even if no one else does) we are required to love one another even as Christ loves us. Thank you for being transparent in your humanity.
To summarize Jamie's lesson about that difficult client - set boundaries from the start and stick with those boundaries. Which is good advice for life.
Knowing that such a stoic personality like Jamie still has the urge to press the button while looking away from an explosion confirms that all man are exactly the same inside
In over 30 years of working in entertainment technologies, the hardest lesson I had to learn was to simply say No. I can't do that for you. Absolute words of wisdom.
The same goes for job interviews with a manager/owner. If they treat you like crap before they hire you, how can you expect they are going to be any different when they have you depending on them for your income?
Speaking of shirts...you had one that was a particular favorite of mine...in fact what was written on it has become my mantra for ending disagreements. "I reject your reality and substitute my own."
I had an HVAC guy fire me as a customer. He got outrageously pissed off that we wrote a check for a repair and asked for a receipt. It was a small fairly low cost 1 hour repair that I agreed to verbally (no contract) and claims he quoted me a "cash price" which means he was not reporting his income for taxes. He actually ripped up the check and told me he wasn't doing business with us anymore lol. All because we wanted a written history of repairs done for warranty purposes. Either way, when people show you who they are, believe them.
I worked for a small moving and storage company owned by my grandfather. No matter how often we had to deal with one specific pain in the ass repeat customer, he never turned her down. Finally we had a situation where we just couldn’t fit her into the schedule on the dates she wanted during our busy season. He tried to move Heaven and Earth to get the OTHER Customers to reschedule so we could do it, but they didn’t budge. You have no idea how much JOY it gave me to tell her that we just couldn’t do it for her on the days that had already been fully booked for almost a month in advance at that point. I still have no idea why he kept bending over backwards for this one wealthy Mother Of All Karens.
The story about the client that was so much trouble during the bidding process reminds me so much of one client we had in our Geology Lab. This person was what we called, "A Nuisance Customer." Nothing we did for them made us any money, because we had to do so much work for these tiny contracts that it never paid off. The samples didn't even have consistent names, and while they'd give us the life story of each sample, they often wouldn't tell us exactly what it was they were looking for. It was maddening. And, we found out through due course of time that every other Geology Lab in the city eventually banned this client because they were so much trouble.
Always remember, folks: if you have a hunch that a client is going to be Difficult, multiply your rate by 5x or 10x. If that doesn't scare them off, at least you'll be well paid to deal with their BS, and maybe you'll realise you should be charging a higher rate anyway.
I always figured that the person who built the rig pushed the button. Usually they'd go thorough an iterative process where one of their ideas won out and got built full-scale. If Adam's idea was used, he probably built it and hit the switch/lit the fuse, etc. If Jamie's rig was the winner, it was usually Jamie.
"Continuity is for Sissies!" - Janusz Kamiński, "Jurassic Park; The Lost World" I can still hear him saying that every time I hear the word "continuity". 😅
This is encouraging me to go back and binge rewatching some Mythbusters, also never see it on as often as I'd used to :( What are people's most memorable episodes or most underrated?
That story about the lousy client reminds me of my time working at an estate agent. We had a number of landlords on our books who would just eat up our time/effort/resources, and barely gave a scrap of business. In the end, I had to call a meeting with everyone in this small business, explain the Pareto principle as simply as I could, and ask how much we were making from these particular people, and how much effort we were putting in to keep these people as customers. The trouble was, these customers had been with the company for a long time, and they were the sort of customers whom you have to take on when just starting out. Not sure whether they ever learnt, but I did try to warn them.
Learned that about my clients the hard way. I would usually allow them three "Red Flags". On the third Red Flag I would close my books and just walk away.
I had an employer early in my career that I wish I had Jamie's advice on. In the interview, they asked if there was any other references I could give for a specific application I worked with and I made the mistake of saying the name when I said I was going to call her and ask if I could use her as a reference. I lived 2 blocks from the place where I interviewed. By the time I got home they had already called her. They also spent the entire interview talking about how great the old DBA was and how no one could ever really replace him, and they admitted the reason they were still trying to hire was trying to hire DBA + grant writer wasn't getting them any responses. They didn't get less crazy or inconsiderate once I started work there. In 6 months I was working elsewhere and that position ceased to exist when I left it.
To your first question, I believe it was the U2 episode that both of you wanted to ride on and only one could. I remember Jamie letting you have the flight because he knew you really wanted to do it, but I'm 100% sure he would have had just has much fun as you did.
Adam talking about clients reminds me of 2 stories in a different job sector (residential design firm) The first story was when a long time problem client decided they could get a better offer elsewhere and so took a project originally awarded to us and shopped around. We weren't worried about it because we knew the typical industry standard prices for what they were asking, and even so we were near the bottom end of the spectrum. 2 years go by and they award us that same project as covertly as they could. Apparently no one they talked to took the project at a lower price. They never argued as much about our prices after that. Sometimes the client needs to be given the time to learn what to expect within an industry on their own before they chill out. The second story I wasn't apart of. My old boss would only ever say the worst jobs to win bids for were the horrible ones that you never wanted to do and so made up an intentionally inflated price and the client actually accept it. 😂
This isnt just a business lesson if you're a "Builder". This is a business lesson in general. If the client is how they are now. That's how they will be.
Big lesson I've learned at work. When a client says they are going to the moon and you know that moon shot is impossible; GET OUT. The CEO of most companies is a sales man and their product is their company. DON'T buy if it sounds to good to be true. The other lesson is, The more work a client is to get setup the less likely they are to produce value for you. Companies with complicated infrastructure are often poorly run or don't understand their own business. The least complex solution is usually the most stable. An example I had a client that said "We are coming for Johnson & Johnson." Now you have to understand that J&J is a company that measures it's market cap in hundreds of billions. The company sitting across the table from me was worth a few hundred million. I told one of my bosses that this would end badly for them. The client had been with the company for years and we stuck with them. That client collapsed under their own ego and venture capitol. They didn't bring us down but they did make a ton of work for us that paid little to nothing.
I'm going to forward this to all our Sales people. We've had some doozy of clients lately that have taken almost a year for a contract. Then we get into implementation and they are equally as awful.
I remember clearly how Jamie and Adam happily deferred to each other on the "red button press". The only episode I can remember where there was a clear pang of disappointment was the U-2 edge of space flight, Jamie graciously gave it to Adam as he knew what it meant to him. but it clearly sucked for Jamie to do. It was an enormous gift.
Adam, another thing you have to consider is all the effort you put into something where the client keeps creeping the scope and you're doing a lot of free work just to get a bid... and if they decide to go with someone else (for whatever reason), you just got stiffed. If they keep creeping the scope of a project, you get to a point where you need to cut them loose and take the loss you have now rather than throwing more unbillable time at it.
It's so funny to me that what I've experienced in the restaurant industry is the opposite of Jamie's advice. Once we have fed our client the hangry goes away 😂😂😂
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i actually really love the relationship you and jaime had over the years, like you've said before...you guys weren't best friends, but you worked so well together because of it. its the perfect bond of two completely different ethos' that actually compliment each other so well.
Despite any other differences, it seems like they were absolutely in step with each other about the integrity of the show and presenting a united front on that issue.
There's a LOT the world could learn from these two working so well together, despite being basically polar opposites outside of work! The works would be a better place...
_(on that note, which I've said before, if we all acted just 50% of how Adam does, how _*_massively different_*_ the world would be!! [for the better, obviously])_
@@JimorianYes! And Adam has even said they became _SO_ in sync that when operating loud machinery, they could make vague gestures to each other and they immediately knew what was implied.
@@DUKE_of_RAMBLE Working well with someone no matter the venture is awesome but it never has to go beyond the working environment. Anything after work is a plus but it never has to go beyond that.
@@Valterius87 I guess that's my point? World leaders are kind of coworkers with each other, so working together in a civil and cooperative manner for the achievement of their end-goals (not being at war with each other) would be great!
_[yes, admittedly the analogy isn't great, since it's more like CEOs of various companies, but my underlying point is the same lol]_
@@Valterius87 True, there's never an expectation of co-workers needing to be best friends outside of the office. Though if it's like two business partners, there's certainly more of a need for them to work on their relationship like a husband/wife dynamic as Adam said. I once worked for a company where the owners were always at odds, having arguments amongst each other on company-wide meetings and such. Not good for morale.
I wish Jamie would upload more stuff. You can tell people love him so much and Adam keeps delivering.
Oh, Jamie is very happily not on camera these days. He is beloved, to be sure, though!
@@tested Do you know if he watches your channel?
@@txwombat7826 they are "not friends." That photo from when Adam found Jamie at an airport after the show ended spoke volumes. I would bet money that Jamie does not watch Tested ... he even used to part-own it and then sold his stake. He's dunzo.
@@tested You can tell that Jamie probably didnt like the idea of working on the show just because he seemed so stoic but that didnt compromise his work ethic which I can say I got a little bit of that in my life.
Put your work forward and let results speak for themselves and if you are wrong its because someone didnt value you being there.
That alone to me speaks volumes because hes a brilliant man, many didnt like his "appearance".
But Im glad hes still doing the things he wants to do.
I had a major crush on Jamie. 😂😂❤
"However the client is going in, is how they're going to be all the way through" works in the other direction as well. When my business is bidding something out, I remind our side that if a potential vendor is treating us poorly now, imagine how they're going to be after they have our money.
“If they can’t make a call on a drawing, they’re gonna have a harder time making a call on a final product”. True enough
Yup, definitely works both ways. I regularly buy expensive specialized equipment for our research institute and sometimes the manufacturers tend to get a bit lazy on their service side of things. Reminding them that they are in fact not the only supplier of machine xy can work wonders sometimes.
@@christiannorf1680We deal with that in our lab...
@@christiannorf1680 Oh wow, yea! It gets really hairy in scientific and industrial appliances. Unless your field is saturated, it's fairly common to be calling about a 5-figure machine that a grand total of one person knows how to service properly. You gotta learn quickly how to sniff out the trouble you're about to get into. Adam kind of focused on rude or indecisive clients. On both sides, but especially on the supplier, they're just in way over their head. They know all about the product and you're drawn in by the enthusiasm. But they're a solo engineer with the patent to something that's perfect. They do their own itinerary, accounting, and customer service. If you are desperate and need it that badly, you might need to physically mentor/assist that operation. It's very easy to be saddled with a 20-ton paperweight. (I may know a couple real engineers who are in this category)
There's also the more general "how a person does one thing is how they do everything" which is true for many other things as well.
I love how despite your differences you still respect Jamie and what he did for Mythbusters and whatever relationship you had
All this advice works for almost every aspect of life
Really appreciate your taking the time to say that, thank you. That's exactly what we hope folks take from these videos.
@@tested Yes, as someone who recently started watching, I am enjoying these videos that are packed with lots of life wisdom. And your exuberant joy in taking the time to share them is so evident. 🤗
Facile.
A district manager for a tire store chain once told me "Sometimes you have to fire a customer" which is very much similar to adams story. Some people arent worth the effort for their business, their good review or good word of mouth. Some people just wont have a good outcome no matter what you do, so identify them and move on as soon as you can.
True. And they are often the most demanding.
The customer is always right, until they're not the customer anymore.
"Sometimes, you have to fire a customer" is the best thing I've heard since "promoting someone to customer" when you have to terminate an employee.
You can't please some of the people any of the time.
Two lessons I have never forgotten from MythBusters:
Adam: I reject your reality and substitute my own!
Jamie: Jamie wants big boom.
Jamie: Quack, dammit!
Jamie: "When in doubt, C4."
@@siobhainfletcher4874 Definitely one of the best lines of the show
Jamie: This is gonna kill you
Also, pressurised steam is scary stuff. Like, scary in a way you can't really get from just reading about it. The water heater explosion experiment is one thing that really stuck with me.
When Jamie really wanted to "push the button" his laugh like a kid destroying a Lego tower was great. Those were moments of true happiness.
Adam's advice on working with clients is so spot on !!!
Working in Heavy Haul and Recovery, that couldn't be more true, and that advice can be used as interactions with co-workers, friends, family. And especially with spouse/lovers.
Reminds me of the saying "When people show you who they are. Believe them."
We could use a lot of that a few years ago.
90 percent of the government wouldn't be able to get a job at Jack in the Box, never mind elected, if more people heeded that lesson. This is true no matter what country you're in.
Can somebody please tell me what that means?
@@0nionsHaveL4yers basically people's actions tell you more about what kind of person they are than their words.
Isn't that one of the most important lessons that so many people STILL haven't learned? Presumption and assumption... often gone wrong so badly.
Good stuff, Mr. Savage. It's a real treat hearing behind the scene stories about my favourite shows.
We’ll pass your kind comment on to Adam!
From the time I was 18 I worked as a stagehand, an audio engineer, and was employed by various music stores. I left that industry 10 years ago but for over twenty years I wore nothing but black T-shirts and blue or black jeans. I still wear the same thing. My wife says I have the wardrobe of Ernest P Worrell. 😂
I love it though! I rarely have to think about what to wear. Its very liberating!
We hear that!
I'm the same way, it's a simple wardrobe and works with almost any occasion but the most formal. For work we have to wear polo shirts, so I also have amassed an enormous collection of those.
As a pastry chef of many years, the difficult client principle is absolutely true.
Heh. Kind of reminds me of my wedding. We had a company take care of everything (location, food, drinks etc.) and at times the person planning it seemed totally baffled by us reacting to most of her suggestions with "Sounds good, let's do it". I think organizing weddings is the endgame of working with difficult clients.
Just like how no-one wants to deal with difficult people, I've always found that by being respectful to tradies and paying them straight away, they repay that by always coming out when I want them and they will go out of their way to do exactly what I want....a little courtesy goes a long way.
Ah, yes-the Odette Hawkins lesson. 45 years ago one of my Mom's friends said she was interested in having me make a leaded glass window for her recently added sunroom. I was new to the game and really excited to get a commission. We start the process. I do a drawing, we select glass. Then she decides that isn't quite what she had in mind. We went through this several times. Finally I got frustrated and gave her the pencil and paper and left the glass samples with her and told her I would be happy to build whatever she designed. You would think it would end there. Nope. She got someone to build her a window-fine with me but every time I saw her she complained about the window she got and it really wasn't what she wanted. She complained to everyone about her window and I thought about how lucky I was that it wasn't my work she was constantly complaining about. I went ahead and built the window I had designed for her and gave it to my Mom. Now it hangs in my bedroom and catches the morning sun and I am happy every time I wake up and see it. And...I have gotten many many compliments on what a nice window it is. For a time I worked for a shop that did high end glasswork in the DC area and part of why I got the job was because of a photo of the window that Odette didn't go for and didn't spend the rest of her life complaining about. Lucky me-knowing when to walk away from a client is a good thing to know and it is really hard to do when you are just starting out.
what a great story. I'm glad you ended up with your window.
Lmao! That is an AMAZING story.
Not only is she complaining about her choice to this day, she's letting people know she would have complained about the alternatives, had the been utilized.
Just crazy.
You're never gonna make money off someone named Odette.
@@doomsdayrabbit4398 Was gunna say, Odette sounds pretentious af...
The beginning of this made me think of the time Jamie stepped aside and Adam fly in the U2 because he was definitely more excited about the flight
Same(:
Don’t go nuts at the same time dam good advise
Some people would say... sometimes you fish and other times you cut bait. My new boss (before retirement) was "everything gets a written quote" and when I started 20 years prior, I would tell a customer... this is what I propose, then go into a time and material situation with the stipulation that if things went well it may be cheaper than doing a fixed quote. Of course I would guess high and be a hero for saving the day in the end. If they didn't like my approach, well we had plenty of other customers waiting in the wings. 9 times out of 10, they would call back in a few days and tell us they gave it some thought and liked my approach better. (that means they got other quotes) Anyone asking price up front or trying to bargain automatically got the "I don't wanna do it" price. Sorry, I can't do a good jobs at that dollar amount. Bottom line is if you start offering a bargain, then you will get more bargain hunters... and your life will be miserable. Offer quality and service, you can name your price and the rest can take a hike.
Gotta love the fact that the continuity clip was at the end, despite already being crossed off earlier in the video, also meaning the drinks bottle moved into the starting position at the end. Very clever
It honestly wasn’t intentional, but what a great result!
My former boss took me along to meet his customers so I could do all the info gathering and quoting instead of him....and eventually the designing, (as I normally did). I shortly thereafter started my own business. My boss was an ass of the first order......but I do owe him my gratitude for showing me that business was not a magical gift bestowed to some and not others. I was his business....and he (unintentionally?) showed me that I was HIS paycheck....when I used to think that he was mine. I work for myself now.
It took me a long time to learn this lesson. I was working in a job, originally in a team of 3, which became a team of 2. One day I came in to learn that they had fired my colleague with no warning. (And no handover which was lots of fun!) So I'm now a team of 1, doing the same job as a team of 3. And I did it. I pride myself on the fact that I did it well, with no complaints. Yes, it was long hours, enormous amounts of overtime and I wasn't paid a huge amount. But I enjoyed the work, so like a schmuck I did it. And then my boss (the company owner) bought a Porsche. And I had the epiphany that, essentially, a lot of my hard work had paid for that car. Yes I should have known theoretically that of course it's a successful private business which he owns so of course he is going to be enriched by it. But part of that success was based on me working stupid hours and getting not much more than minimum wage for it. And that car was a powerful physical embodiment of that.
I left that job soon after and got a job at a non-profit. Which had its own share of issues, but at least no-one was getting rich off my hard work.
Great marriage advice. My wife and I have been together for 26 years and "not going crazy at the same time" holds true. When one of us is in crisis, the other is there in an instant for support.
Also, great advice about troublesome clients. When I was a web developer, I had to fire a few clients early on in the process.
Last I saw online Jaime was like a VAP ( visiting Associate Professor) in something like R and D at some Scandinavian University. Is that still what he is up to? He seemed very passionate about the prototyping aspects of Mythbusters. I am glad you are fond of and respect Jaime even if you weren't besties. You had a great working dynamic on the show and balanced each other well.
7:00 "..shooting shrimp through a ball of flame to see if you could get it to cook on the other side: you can't!" LOL!
I love that when Adam is going through what he’s answered he says …”continuity..” and circles it off, and then later he answers the continuity question….which If it was a conscious choice is hilarious to me ,and if not then….the world is so wonderful and full of irony
It totally wasn’t intentional!
@ which makes it all the funnier 🤣
i noticed that too and intentional or not, i found it hilarious too.
Every time I see Adam on here, I immediately hear the Mythbusters intro and that music. Adam, Jamie, Grant, Tori, and Kari. Was such a great time for tv. The American Chopper, Monster Garage days too.
Omg, thank you Adam, seriously thank you. I just quit a job where my boss was a an absolute jerk and I was told I wouldn’t be paid halfway through one of my work weeks. I decided that I wasn’t going to be treated this way and I left. Of course that means I I left a shit ton of money on the table….supposedly. I honestly don’t think I would have gotten that money anyways. But I would like to thank you because I have been stressing over this for the last three weeks. Wondering if I had made a huge mistake. You just brought me a ton of peace. Thank you for sharing the immense wisdom of yourself and Jamie.
Good for you. I’ve seen people try to stick it out in that kind of situation and it’s not pretty.
I love that you edited in the continuity question after the part where you said you'd already answered it. Very meta. :)
I love how happy you get when recalling your first client, you're absolutely right though
I had a "continuity" situation many years ago! I was videotaping a co-worker going through a field service repair on a piece of our Hospital Equipment. I told him to wear the same shirt for all the shots (over three days or so) and he asked me why. I told him the field service techs were going to do it all at once and him wearing different clothes would be a distraction. He said: "Oh, I get that!" Now doing photography/videography wasn't my job, but somehow at every company I worked for they MADE it part of my job once they knew I knew how to do it! My job title was always "something Engineer" but they all found many more "somethings" for me to do. I didn't care because the pay was the same no matter WHAT I did. AND the Companies bought all the equipment, so I didn't have to use MY gear!
When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time - Maya Angelou. Very, very wise words. Great that the MB team used that approach.
4:57 this is like pure, 100% Nilered distilled, gold powder advice right here. In a different field, but exactly the same thing with clients I've learned the hard way.
Pick your battles was a lesson taught to me earlier on in my career. It takes a while to take to heart because, especially when you're young, your initial reaction is, "but I want all this stuff" - it takes a while to separate which things are more important to you and decide why in order to make your case for the things.
Number 1 lesson from Jamie: Berets are cooler than -hats- caps.
Well, it's true that Jamie really does pull the beret off!
Zach Hazard would strongly disagree.
😂
Not in summer, they're quite warm.
…Aren't berets also hats?
The Real MVP of this video is the editor and continuity! Made me chuckle!
That was Norman!
Wonderful episode!
I'm really not the type of guy to watch a lot of TV. But I loved Mythbusters and tbh I deeply miss it. The cast was perfect and there will never be anything on the same level. Thank you and the whole crew for all the great memories of watching that show and talking about it with people.
Hi Adam! I grew up watching mythbusters i really enjoy and learn so much Seeing you now Just like when I was a little girl, lots of love from Paraguay 🇵🇾❤️
Great advice about clients. Every small business has clients that they wish would go away. My first job as a teenager was to answer the calls from a certain client. It wasn't that he was a bad person but his questions were too trivial he was tying up more important members of staff for hours. This also goes for interviews, don't expect anything different when you join the company.
This is a wonderful continuity from Myth Busters, a deep peek behind the scenes. Adam has so much wonderful life wisdom he has gained from his experiences and we're so lucky he's ready and eager to share them! It would be great if Jamie could find the time to do a few duo spots with Adam.
SO TRUE!!! Clients who are hard to work with in the beginning will absolutely be hard the rest the way through!!! You certainly can take them if you have more flexibility at the time. Setting boundaries/limits can actually instill confidence and sell professionalism. Change work orders are definitely your friend! If they have timeline issues, reminding them it's important to be responsive turns their complaint into your friend.
Just thank you for making these videos. The visually chaotic but understandably ordered shop that is your bunker of creativity is so familiar it feels like home.
It was only watching these tested videos that made me realise the engineering was only 50% of what you guys were actively working on in MythBusters. The other 50% was making quality TV. You did it so well it just came off as natural when I was a kid, but now I realise just how much work went into that.
Your professionalism far exceeds the standards. I really appreciate both you and Jamie and am so glad there hasn’t been any *John Smith* Exposed videos about anyone you guys worked with. That’s so rare these days it feels like. Always and forever a place where I can come to feel safe. Thank you so much Adam!
Mentioning answering the continuity question and only then actually answering it is genious.
".... Wear ROUGHLY the same thing every day ..."
And then there was Jamie. :)
Indeed!
I was re-watching an episode of Mythbusters (I think it might have been either Shooting Fish in a Barrel or Killer Whirlpool) where Jamie had gotten pretty filthy and had to change out of his usual outfit, and until that moment I’d never realized how much his clothing internalized into my mental picture of Jamie, because it just felt SO weird to see him wearing something else.
@@hkfifty871 Forgotten that but, yeah, totally get it. In line with Adam's frequent joking on the matter, I did wonder if there really was, say, a secret facility someplace, with hordes of identical Jamies patiently waiting for the signal to go into action. :)
I see what you did with the continuity question. 😀 Love it!
I genuinely think it's even more fascinating how well the two of you worked *because* you didn't get along as friends. Co-workers with extreme respect for the skills, abilities and knowhow of the other person especially in a long term setting like how long the show ran and your working relationship before that, it shows when two people have that level of trust in each other. It's a perfect example of how you don't have to be friends with your coworkers to respect their talents and trust that they can get the job done.
I recently watched the episode where both you and Jamie endured the testing to go to the edge of space, and when push came to shove - Jamie was just like "you are the one who deserves this more" and let you do it. NGL I would have fucking cried lol - that was a HUGE experience, and I would have honestly fought tooth and nail for it. But he just knew you were the more deserving chap for the job. I love him for that!
Jamie's lesson reminds me of something a business leader said during the Great Retirement:
"Managers are finally learning that it is better to lose a bad customer than to lose a good employee."
your show was my favourite when I was a child and made want to become an engineer, now I am studying mechanical engineering. Much love and respect from Turkey you are an international inspiration
As someone who does a lot of freelance designing for 3D printing I’ll keep that advice in mind. Some people really have turned out to be a pain in the ass all the way through a job and I shouldn’t have taken it on🤦🏻♀️ Thanks Adam!
It's very satisfying to see the actual love that you and Jamie have for each other. We always "fight" with those we love but the respect and actual love overcomes EVERY time. We don't have to like each other but as Christians (as I am and will ascribe to be even if no one else does) we are required to love one another even as Christ loves us. Thank you for being transparent in your humanity.
Thank you, Adam.
I don't think I ever expected continuity on a show where there are constant messes. But the eventual pseudo uniforms you guys had our iconic for sure.
To summarize Jamie's lesson about that difficult client - set boundaries from the start and stick with those boundaries. Which is good advice for life.
Knowing that such a stoic personality like Jamie still has the urge to press the button while looking away from an explosion confirms that all man are exactly the same inside
"When someone tells you who they are, believe them." It's a very important lesson.
In any sales situation, sometimes you lose when you win ... great content!
Already “having answered” the continuity question before having answered it.
Best continuity joke ever :)
Good timely advice for me here. Mostly, thanks for throwing in the caveat that sometimes you need this gig.
In over 30 years of working in entertainment technologies, the hardest lesson I had to learn was to simply say No. I can't do that for you. Absolute words of wisdom.
The same goes for job interviews with a manager/owner. If they treat you like crap before they hire you, how can you expect they are going to be any different when they have you depending on them for your income?
Speaking of shirts...you had one that was a particular favorite of mine...in fact what was written on it has become my mantra for ending disagreements. "I reject your reality and substitute my own."
I had an HVAC guy fire me as a customer. He got outrageously pissed off that we wrote a check for a repair and asked for a receipt. It was a small fairly low cost 1 hour repair that I agreed to verbally (no contract) and claims he quoted me a "cash price" which means he was not reporting his income for taxes.
He actually ripped up the check and told me he wasn't doing business with us anymore lol.
All because we wanted a written history of repairs done for warranty purposes.
Either way, when people show you who they are, believe them.
I still watch myth busters most days, some episodes are on RUclips now :) you guys are just awesome.
I worked for a small moving and storage company owned by my grandfather.
No matter how often we had to deal with one specific pain in the ass repeat customer, he never turned her down.
Finally we had a situation where we just couldn’t fit her into the schedule on the dates she wanted during our busy season.
He tried to move Heaven and Earth to get the OTHER Customers to reschedule so we could do it, but they didn’t budge.
You have no idea how much JOY it gave me to tell her that we just couldn’t do it for her on the days that had already been fully booked for almost a month in advance at that point.
I still have no idea why he kept bending over backwards for this one wealthy Mother Of All Karens.
Adam, I kind of wish you would do one of these episodes with Jamie as a guest. I think it would be very interesting to many!
The story about the client that was so much trouble during the bidding process reminds me so much of one client we had in our Geology Lab. This person was what we called, "A Nuisance Customer." Nothing we did for them made us any money, because we had to do so much work for these tiny contracts that it never paid off. The samples didn't even have consistent names, and while they'd give us the life story of each sample, they often wouldn't tell us exactly what it was they were looking for. It was maddening. And, we found out through due course of time that every other Geology Lab in the city eventually banned this client because they were so much trouble.
"When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time." -Maya Angelou
Always remember, folks: if you have a hunch that a client is going to be Difficult, multiply your rate by 5x or 10x. If that doesn't scare them off, at least you'll be well paid to deal with their BS, and maybe you'll realise you should be charging a higher rate anyway.
I always figured that the person who built the rig pushed the button. Usually they'd go thorough an iterative process where one of their ideas won out and got built full-scale. If Adam's idea was used, he probably built it and hit the switch/lit the fuse, etc. If Jamie's rig was the winner, it was usually Jamie.
Same advice holds true when dating, things don't get better when the marriage contract is signed.
A wise man once said.Love is blind,but marriage is an eye opener
Thanks AFAIK
I like the question on continuity and his tea miraculously moves to the other side of him and out of shot.
"Continuity is for Sissies!" - Janusz Kamiński, "Jurassic Park; The Lost World"
I can still hear him saying that every time I hear the word "continuity". 😅
And now someone needs to ask Jamie what he learned from Adam, record his response and post it.
This is encouraging me to go back and binge rewatching some Mythbusters, also never see it on as often as I'd used to :(
What are people's most memorable episodes or most underrated?
That story about the lousy client reminds me of my time working at an estate agent. We had a number of landlords on our books who would just eat up our time/effort/resources, and barely gave a scrap of business. In the end, I had to call a meeting with everyone in this small business, explain the Pareto principle as simply as I could, and ask how much we were making from these particular people, and how much effort we were putting in to keep these people as customers.
The trouble was, these customers had been with the company for a long time, and they were the sort of customers whom you have to take on when just starting out. Not sure whether they ever learnt, but I did try to warn them.
I really wish adam would get Jaimie on (if he's willing) and just banter back and forth of a q&a from patreons!
leave it for the train spotters. brilliant :)
"Leave it for the trainspotters". HAHA, I get that!
I love so much that the continuity question comes after Adam crossed it off
Learned that about my clients the hard way. I would usually allow them three "Red Flags". On the third Red Flag I would close my books and just walk away.
I had an employer early in my career that I wish I had Jamie's advice on. In the interview, they asked if there was any other references I could give for a specific application I worked with and I made the mistake of saying the name when I said I was going to call her and ask if I could use her as a reference. I lived 2 blocks from the place where I interviewed. By the time I got home they had already called her. They also spent the entire interview talking about how great the old DBA was and how no one could ever really replace him, and they admitted the reason they were still trying to hire was trying to hire DBA + grant writer wasn't getting them any responses. They didn't get less crazy or inconsiderate once I started work there.
In 6 months I was working elsewhere and that position ceased to exist when I left it.
Love that the bottle disappears when you start talking about continuity.
To your first question, I believe it was the U2 episode that both of you wanted to ride on and only one could. I remember Jamie letting you have the flight because he knew you really wanted to do it, but I'm 100% sure he would have had just has much fun as you did.
On Jamie's advice, I've always heard it "When someone shows you who they are, believe them."
Tldr don't sleep in the back seat of a car if Jaimie has a bottle of water
Adam talking about clients reminds me of 2 stories in a different job sector (residential design firm)
The first story was when a long time problem client decided they could get a better offer elsewhere and so took a project originally awarded to us and shopped around. We weren't worried about it because we knew the typical industry standard prices for what they were asking, and even so we were near the bottom end of the spectrum. 2 years go by and they award us that same project as covertly as they could. Apparently no one they talked to took the project at a lower price. They never argued as much about our prices after that. Sometimes the client needs to be given the time to learn what to expect within an industry on their own before they chill out.
The second story I wasn't apart of. My old boss would only ever say the worst jobs to win bids for were the horrible ones that you never wanted to do and so made up an intentionally inflated price and the client actually accept it. 😂
"We didn't worry about continuity at all!" As an indie script supervisor that hurt my soul 😭
5:00 - Getting flashbacks to when I first started doin' graphic design stuff for people after hearing this haha
This isnt just a business lesson if you're a "Builder". This is a business lesson in general. If the client is how they are now. That's how they will be.
"Leave it for the trainspotters." Is such a good philosophy.
Big lesson I've learned at work. When a client says they are going to the moon and you know that moon shot is impossible; GET OUT. The CEO of most companies is a sales man and their product is their company. DON'T buy if it sounds to good to be true. The other lesson is, The more work a client is to get setup the less likely they are to produce value for you. Companies with complicated infrastructure are often poorly run or don't understand their own business. The least complex solution is usually the most stable.
An example I had a client that said "We are coming for Johnson & Johnson." Now you have to understand that J&J is a company that measures it's market cap in hundreds of billions. The company sitting across the table from me was worth a few hundred million. I told one of my bosses that this would end badly for them. The client had been with the company for years and we stuck with them. That client collapsed under their own ego and venture capitol. They didn't bring us down but they did make a ton of work for us that paid little to nothing.
I'm going to forward this to all our Sales people. We've had some doozy of clients lately that have taken almost a year for a contract. Then we get into implementation and they are equally as awful.
I remember clearly how Jamie and Adam happily deferred to each other on the "red button press". The only episode I can remember where there was a clear pang of disappointment was the U-2 edge of space flight, Jamie graciously gave it to Adam as he knew what it meant to him. but it clearly sucked for Jamie to do. It was an enormous gift.
Adam, another thing you have to consider is all the effort you put into something where the client keeps creeping the scope and you're doing a lot of free work just to get a bid... and if they decide to go with someone else (for whatever reason), you just got stiffed. If they keep creeping the scope of a project, you get to a point where you need to cut them loose and take the loss you have now rather than throwing more unbillable time at it.
It's so funny to me that what I've experienced in the restaurant industry is the opposite of Jamie's advice. Once we have fed our client the hangry goes away 😂😂😂
these insight videos help me deal with customers, bosses and even personal issues at home lol