How to Become a Miracle Worker
The Montgomery Scott school of engineering (and expectation setting)
The chief engineer of the U.S.S. Enterprise (the original, mind you) was well known as a miracle worker. Montgomery Christopher Jorgensen Scott, better known as Scotty, was a brilliant engineer who literally wrote the book on a spread of Federation technologies.
The Enterprise encountered more than its share of troubles, be they boarding invaders, doomsday weapons, all-powerful beings, or enormous amoebas. Scotty was also the head of damage control, and when the ship was damaged, Kirk already had a time frame in mind. Scotty’s estimates didn’t seem much to matter, except in that Kirk was almost certainly going to demand an order of magnitude difference in repair times. With every one of Kirk’s unreasonable demands, Scotty and his team came through. It happened so often that Scotty Time is even a trope!
But how did this exchange work, and why should it matter to you? It’s not just padding time; Scotty’s other secret is farther down. Read to the end to pick up the kicker.
Kirk: “How much refit time ‘til we can take her out again?”
Scotty: “Eight weeks sir, but you don’t have eight weeks so I’ll do it for ya in two.”
Kirk: “Mr. Scott, have you always multiplied your repair estimates by a factor of four?”
Scotty: “Certainly, sir. How else can I keep my reputation as a miracle worker?”
— Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
In a team focused on a single project with a single goal, this doesn’t make much sense. But in a dynamic, fast-paced team working on multiple projects with possible re-prioritizations or resource re-allocations, padding isn’t optional, and no it isn’t dishonest.
When the Enterprise-D (Next Generation) pulled Scotty out of a transporter buffer he met up with Geordi, who didn’t understand this concept.
Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge: Yeah, well, I told the Captain I’d have this analysis done in an hour.
Scotty: How long will it really take?
Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge: An hour!
Scotty: Oh, you didn’t tell him how long it would *really* take, did ya?
Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge: Well, of course I did.
Scotty: Oh, laddie. You’ve got a lot to learn if you want people to think of you as a miracle worker.
— STTNG: “Relics”
Business moves. Life changes. Timelines flex. Priorities suddenly aren’t. People disappear, get sick, get hit by meteors or in the case of the Star Trek world, suddenly put on a red shirt. You can’t predict the future but you can manage expectations.
Earlier I promised Scotty’s other secret. It’s far easier said than done, but learning this is probably the real answer to a lot of time and project issues.
Scotty: Starfleet captains are like children. They want everything right now and they want it their way. But the secret is to give them only what they need, not what they want.
— STTNG: “Relics”
When half the ship’s weapons are destroyed and Kirk tells Scotty the ship’s weapons need to be repaired in fifteen minutes, what does that mean? That they need to turn melted slag into working components? Or does it mean they need to find a way to get the rest working well enough to make up the difference, even temporarily?
If a project manager says on Monday that they need to demonstrate a project on Wednesday, does that mean it needs to be fully functional? Maybe (not always) it just means a wireframe that looks like it is working will do. This isn’t a substitute for doing the job right, and Mr. Scott never would have claimed it was. It’s a way to get an immediate task done when schedules and expectations change on the fly.
Manage expectations by providing timelines with room to breathe. Then be flexible, creative, and insightful enough to give people what they need, even if it isn’t quite what they say they want. Before long you might be called a miracle worker too.
Writer, fitness enthusiast, and unapologetic geek, Matt’s educational background started with a B.S. in Computer Science. He currently works in analysis and database design for a large company and serves as an advisor to the Corsairs group.
Other articles on related topics can be found within our other Medium publications at Corsair’s Publishing.
Pick up this fan favorite ST:TNG Disc and watch Relics:
