Scotty Rules
I'm sorry Captain, that's just impossible...
Scotty is the engineer on the first Star Trek series. Friday afternoon I was chatting with a friend about what it means to be the kind of person, like Scotty, who fixes things. These are the rules we arrived at:1
- Scotty Rule #1: Telling people it’s impossible, and then doing it anyhow is always a good idea.
- Scotty Rule #2: You’re the only one who can wear a red shirt and survive.
- Scotty Rule #3: People appreciate fixes more when you speak with a Scottish accent.2
- Scotty Rule #4: You can always tweak the tolerances to +/-5%. The warp drive will always give you just a little more even when you say, “I’ve given it all I’ve got”. She’ll hold.
- Scotty Rule #5: Real engineers don’t work in cubicles.3
- Scotty Rule #6: You only absolutely need to get the job done enough to rescue everyone and fly home.
| Tagged with | mr scott, scotty, scotty rules | 5 comments |
5 Comments so far
Tony Buser
The most important thing I learned from Scotty that has served me well in my professional career – multiply estimates by a factor of 4. How else can you keep your reputation as a miracle worker?
MakerBlock
@Tony Buser: Did he really advocate a 4x rule of thumb? Wow, that’s awesome.
WulfDesign
If you have a boss, they should at least be at the other end of the ship. (with the other side of the galaxy being better). So you can perform your ‘miracles’ without interruption. otherwise follow Tony’s Buser Rule #7.
Tony Buser
@makerblock Yep! See Star Trek III: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Star_Trek_III:_The_Search_for_Spock#Dialogue
tre3
I know plenty of real engineers that unfortunately work in cubicles… They’re the reason why your turbine nacelles don’t rip off of airplane wings
Oh if only people know of the Siemens cubicle farms (I’m sure other similar companies too). Not to discourage anyone from becoming an engineer or anything (just know these things exist and provide stable jobs that may or may not be as gratifying as a Scotty engineer).