Stack the Odds: How RTFM Helps Technicians Make Smarter Decisions

Step 1: RTFM

I try to be as helpful as I can to my technicians. The whole reason I share what I’ve learned is so others don’t have to stumble through the same trial-and-error I did.

That said, I get a lot of phone calls that honestly didn’t need to happen. I’m not some genius whispering to machines. I just have one simple habit: I check the documentation. Every call, I listen, nod thoughtfully, and then hunt down the manual for whatever part number they’re working on.

It’s not wizardry. It’s not clever. Why risk a bet when the payout isn’t worth it?

If you want to be that person at your company—the one who seems to have all the answers—step one is simple: RTFM.

Why We Skip It

Let’s be honest: nobody thinks reading the manual is a bad idea. But if that’s the case, why do so many of us skip it?

More often than we’d like to admit, it’s because we just don’t want to. It feels easier to call someone who already knows the answer and tell ourselves we’re “saving time.” In reality, all we’re doing is shifting that time onto someone else. And if you’ve ever said, “I’m sure this is in the manual, but…”—you’d better have a solid reason for not looking it up yourself.

Of course, it’s not always laziness. A lot of the time, we’re betting on ourselves. We trust that the actuator is labeled well enough, or that we’ve done this job enough times to wing it without cracking the book. Sometimes that gamble pays off. Sometimes it doesn’t.

And honestly, there’s value in that. Early in my career, after I royally screwed something up, someone told me: “If you’re not breaking something, you’re not trying.” That line stuck. I break fewer things these days. But I learned countless lessons you’d never find in a manual.

The Gamble We Make

Over time, we build up a solid knowledge base. Different manufacturers, different systems — the more jobs we touch, the more patterns we recognize. That experience is real, and there are plenty of times it makes sense to lean on it.

But here’s the catch: every time you skip the manual, you’re placing a bet. If your assumption is right, you save time and money. If you’re wrong, the payout flips fast.

Sometimes it’s just swapping a couple wires; other times, it’s re-pulling an entire run. And once in a while, it’s a mistake that throws an entire building off.

That’s the gamble: weighing the cost of being wrong against the time it takes to check the book. Every bet has odds. Know them before you roll the dice.

Stacking the Odds: How RTFM Builds Your Knowledge Base

“Read the manual every time” is the safe answer. But let’s be real, out in the field, that’s not always how it plays out.

Sometimes manufacturers actually make our lives easier. Labels, wiring diagrams printed right on the cover, equipment that’s laid out in a way that’s hard to screw up. They want you to succeed without getting elbow deep in the documentation. When it’s obvious, cracking the book really would be a waste of time.

Other times, the stakes just aren’t that high. If being wrong only means swapping a couple wires or hitting a reset, that’s a two-minute fix. You’re not gambling the house, you’re tossing a chip on the table.

But when the stakes are high? That’s when it pays to think about the odds. You can actually treat this like a little expected-value calculation. Stick with me here:

• How long would it take to read the manual?

• How long would it take to undo the mistake if you’re wrong?

• How confident are you that you’re right?

Here’s the shortcut: take the manual-reading time, divide it by the potential fix time, and subtract that number from 1. That tells you the minimum confidence you need for skipping the manual to be worth it.

Let’s say ****skimming the manual takes 10 minutes. A wrong guess could cost you 2 hours to fix. That math works out to about 92%. Unless you’re damn near certain you’re right, you should be reading.

Now, let’s take the same 10-minute skim, but the worst-case fix is only 30 minutes. You only need to be about 67% confident this time to skip. If you’ve seen this exact setup a dozen times, maybe that’s a bet worth making.

Don’t forget though, we almost always underestimate the cost of being wrong. It’s never just swapping a wire. It’s explaining it to the GC, waiting on the lift again or dealing with the angry customer. Those hidden costs stack fast—tilting the odds hard toward reading the manual anyway.

Sanity Checks Before You Bet on Yourself

You don’t need to run the math every time. Most days, a few quick rules of thumb will tell you if it’s worth cracking the manual:

• If there’s even a chance of damaging equipment, read. Replacement costs wipe out any time you might save.

• If a mistake means skipping your lunch break, odds are you don’t have the margin. Read.

• If it’s your first time with this gear, assume you’re less confident than you think. Read.

• If you’ve done it a dozen times and the worst-case is a quick fix, that’s when experience pays. Trust yourself.

The real skill isn’t avoiding manuals altogether, it’s knowing when you can lean on your experience and when you should back it up with the manufacturer’s word. The more you read over time, the smarter your bets get.

Don’t Be the Hero, Be the Pro

The hero is the one who skips the manual, makes the wild call, and hopes they’re right. Sometimes they look brilliant, but when they’re wrong, the fallout is costly.

The pro, on the other hand, doesn’t gamble recklessly. They know when their experience is enough to move quickly, and when it’s time to slow down, crack the manual, and lock in certainty. Over time, that balance is what separates the consistent winners from the lucky streaks.

What about you? Have a story where skipping the manual either saved the day or caused a mess? Shoot me a message and share your war stories, tips, or lessons learned. Your experience might save someone else from a headache down the line.