Just ONE Thing
Information Isn’t Enough: Why Application Matters in Auto Repair
Episode 201
with Rick White, 180BIZ
Good morning, good afternoon or good evening. My name is Rick White from 180BIZ. This is my Just ONE Thing. We're a coaching and training company for the independent auto and truck repair businesses.
So what I want to talk about is information. And the reason why this is so important—you know, at first, what I wanted to do was talk about information and application and how different it is. What I've recognized as I was noodling through this and thinking about how I wanted to talk about this, what I came up with was: information is actually a double-edged sword.
So what do I mean by this? You can go one way or the other with information.
I was talking to a shop owner recently—just this past week—and he was talking to me about this certified master tech, a tech, the whole nine yards… that the first week he was there, cost him like $6,000 worth of work, right? Did not consult any information.
So what am I talking about? This is a guy that, when he was talked about, when it was brought up, he said, “I don't need information. I know how to fix things.” You know, back in the 90s, that made sense, okay? But I'm telling you today, that's not the truth.
Today, you can have changes in a vehicle—mid-year. You can have things where, you know, I recently was talking to a different shop that somebody was doing brakes on a Porsche and didn’t realize they had electric calipers—and used a caliper squeezer to push it in. And guess what? It cost them about $4,000.
So what I want you to understand is this—there's nothing wrong with looking stuff up.
I'm going to ask for two amens this week. This is the first one, okay? The first one is: there’s no shame in looking resources up to verify what should be done and the way to do it.
So I don’t—technicians today shouldn’t be judged on all the stuff they know in their head. It’s being able to step back and use information so that they can do their job better.
Okay, so that’s the first kind of thing I want to talk about.
The second thing I want to talk about is the learning loop. This is where you don’t feel like you know enough, so:
“I’m going to learn some more...
Ah man, I want to start up with it...
I want to start up with it, but not quite yet...
I’m not quite ready... I want to keep going...”
So they keep learning and learning and learning.
I call it the learning loop.
And the problem with the learning loop is—it gives you a false sense of progress. Why? Because you feel like you’re getting smarter, you feel like you’re doing something—but nothing’s changing.
See, there’s a very fine edge to this: not enough information, and then too much information. Does that make sense?
So this is something that is super, super important to understand.
On one end, we don’t look for any information—and honestly, that’s delusional and foolhardy. Okay? You cannot be successful today without having information.
The second part of this, though, is when you go towards too much information—because information without application is a waste of time.
So how do you stay on the tip, on the edge of that sword?
Okay, I love that. Josh, you’re absolutely right: “Learning how to use information is just as important as turning wrenches right now.” It really is.
You’ve got to be able to know where that information is, and you’ve got to be able to find it expeditiously—that’s the big word for this week. Expeditiously. You’ve got to be able to find it very, very quickly, okay?
But it’s got to be something that’s applicable to what you’re doing.
So how do we stay on that edge?
The way we stay on the edge is: once you consume any kind of information, you're going to ask yourself two questions.
Number one: How can I apply this?
This is where you step back and you go, “Okay, what are the possibilities that I can have using this information?” What I want you to do is ask that question once you’ve consumed some information.
That’s the goal: you want to have possibilities, you want to have different choices on how you’re going to apply this knowledge.
But then the second question is: What am I going to do with it? Right? What am I going to do?
That is the next question. When you ask yourself those two questions after you've consumed any knowledge…
Listen, one of the things that we make a mistake on is—we think that the more knowledge we have, the better. It insulates us from failure, disappointments, and setbacks.
But the reality is, true knowledge isn't learned until you apply the information.
Someone write that down—that’s a good one:
“The true knowledge isn’t achieved, isn’t learned, until you apply the information in the real world.”
This is super, super important. You’ve got to be able to see that.
You don’t want to get stuck in the learning loop, because your anxiety actually goes up. You just don’t feel like, “I know enough. I don’t feel like I know enough. I don’t feel like I know enough.”
And it’s because you’re looking to avoid failure. You’re avoiding making mistakes. But the mistakes are how you learn.
Does that all make sense?
Can I get an amen on that?
Don’t get stuck in the learning loop. I want you to be able to glean information and apply, glean information and apply—and then learn and fine-tune it as you get better with it.
So I recently have had the very cool blessing of being in a shop for the last two weeks—helping run the front counter. And it felt really, really good to do it.
But one of the things that just amazed the shop owner was how doing these things really does work.
But it's not about the learning—it's about the doing.
And it's never expecting perfection.
Please share this video—I guarantee you somebody needs to hear this.
John, you're absolutely right: “Learn or win.”
And here’s the thing I'm going to say: Win or learn.
John and I always do everything backwards. But win or learn—because if I win, fantastic. But if I learn, that’s even better. Right?
So, absolutely. Tanya, thank you.
Historic quote, right?
“Information without application is worthless.”
That’s completely it.
It's about the application. It's about learning.
Please share this.
Shop Owners Round Table, 2nd Thursday of the month, 7 PM Eastern.
Also, we have our Pocket Business Genius.
If you're not ready to jump in with coaching, the Pocket Business Genius is an amazing way to keep me in your back pocket—where you can not only see the webinar live every month, but you also have the library of over 80 different management webinars to help you.
Everybody, y’all have a great week. I want you to go make some money now, okay?
Take care everybody. Have a good one. We'll see ya. Bye.
