“Discounting the positive” means you don’t give yourself credit for good results. Even when you did well, your brain tries to make it seem less impressive.
Hindsight bias is when, after you figure something out, you start thinking it was obvious. It can make you underestimate how difficult it was before you knew the answer.
In golf, a bogey means you used one extra shot compared to what’s expected for that hole. Here it’s mainly used as a comparison to explain the speaker’s mindset.
An intermittent short is an electrical problem that only shows up occasionally. It can be tricky to find because the wiring or connection seems fine most of the time.
If a fuse “pops,” it means it burned out to stop the circuit from overheating. Mechanics use that as a clue to figure out what electrical problem is causing too much current.
Some car electrical meters can beep when they detect something like continuity or voltage. That sound can make it easier to know you got the right reading quickly.
In electrical testing, leads are the probe wires/clips that connect your meter or test light to the circuit. Longer leads can improve visibility and reach when the connector or wiring is hard to access.
Incandescent bulbs make light by heating a tiny filament until it glows. The type of bulb matters because electrical testing can behave differently than with newer bulb types.
Pico is a brand of diagnostic tools (often oscilloscopes) that can help you see electrical signals. In this context, it’s about getting alerts when something goes out of range.
It means the electrical current is going higher than it should. Some diagnostic tools can warn you when that happens so you can find the problem sooner.
A “wild goose chase” means you keep looking in the wrong place and waste time. Good diagnostics tries to avoid that by staying focused on the most likely causes.
A bulletin is an official notice that says, “We’ve seen this problem before; check this area.” It helps mechanics skip guesswork when a fault is known.
The transmission is the part that changes gears and sends power to the wheels. Taking it out is a big job, so the point is not to remove it unless you really have to.
“Master” here doesn’t sound like a car name. It’s describing a person’s level of skill—like being the top or most experienced technician. The conversation is about diagnosing problems and who should handle them.
Electric cars have parts that run on very high voltage, which can be dangerous. “High voltage system analysis” means using a diagnostic tool to check that those electrical parts are working properly and safely.
After you install something on a car—especially on an electric car—you need to test it to make sure it was connected correctly. “Installation testing” is the step where you confirm the job is done right and the system works safely.
Autel makes professional diagnostic tools for car repair shops. In this episode, they’re described as helping technicians troubleshoot modern systems like tire pressure sensors and driver-assist features.
ADAS stands for the driver-assist features in newer cars, like systems that help with braking or staying in the lane. After certain repairs, you may need special diagnostics to make sure those sensors are set up correctly.
TPMS is the tire-pressure warning system in modern cars. It uses sensors to tell you if a tire’s pressure is off, and shops may need to reset or relearn the sensors after service.
OEM is the carmaker itself. “OEM procedures and standards” means following the exact instructions the manufacturer says to use for diagnosing and repairing the vehicle, rather than guessing.
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This is the Automotive Repair Podcast Network.
Welcome everyone to yet another episode of Diagnosing Aftermarket ADZ. I'm Matt Fonsland.
Remember, Danny, don't be obsessed with your desires, Danny. Remember,
the Zen philosopher Basha once wrote, A flute with no holes is no flute.
Adona with no hole is a Danish. That, moreover, after a word from our sponsors,
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really happening. Pinpoint faults and sensors, wiring, and components with unmatched accuracy.
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Autel delivers award-winning automotive diagnostic tools trusted by technicians across North America,
backed by Autel North America experts in sales, training, and technical support.
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Learn more at Autel.com.
I'm going to start off with just kind of left field, but I think I have a reason.
Mostly as a good example. I think life in general. I guess the reason I'm going to bring this up is
because it's one I thought of it. And that's yesterday I went golfing with my wife and a
mutual friend. And I would not say I'm an avid golfer. I like it. I like the challenge. I've played,
I don't know, off and on since middle school-ish. The reason I got to play that much
early on was I was not on the school team. Probably wouldn't have joined the team. Maybe a
mistake, but I didn't. I wouldn't have thought of it. One of the larger local golf courses
had Massey Ferguson equipment and used John's Rude Husqvarna and steel chainsaws,
brush cutters, blowers. So they were at my grandparents' implement dealer for a lot of
stuff. We did a fair bit of work for them. Because of that, as you may have guessed,
we got a little bit of special treatment. And many times we could go golf for very
heavily discounted greens fees and cart fees and all of that. So that's how I got to go
early on and up through high school. And then a friend of mine worked at a golf course and
one of the perks there was you get to go golfing for free. So then we would just split costs and
worked out quite well. I would never consider myself that good. I'm better this year than I was
last year, but that's a go into some big story about it. It's just something my wife has enjoyed
since I guess she was a little out of high school, something I get a kick out of, get to go do it
together for a couple hours outside, stuff like that. And you could be competing against each other,
but ultimately you end up competing against yourself. So there's that. The reason I bring
it up, I thought of it yesterday because we're all golfing and I'm kind of for me, right? So I have
to be very, very transparent about that for me, because golfing quite well. First couple holes,
not so great, but I don't know, stuff's kind of started clicking a little bit. And by that means
I'm giving myself chances to par, but I'm really bogeying most of the time for nine holes. I think
the par was 35, could have been 36, but I end up with a 43. For me, that's a stellar score.
Some of you are laughing. I don't blame you. But for me, that was a terrific score. But what made
me think of this talking about this and relating it to other things is that I had one par. I had a
with because at my, just say the word handicap, that's what it is, but I don't know my handicap.
I don't put that much effort into it. But for my skill level, bogey for me is the same as a par
or maybe even better, maybe even a birdie on some holes, depending on difficulty.
I should be ecstatic, maybe not doing victory laps around the green, but I should be happy.
But I don't do that. I look at it and I'm like, ah, man, I totally screwed up that second shot.
I totally screwed up that chip shot, or that was a makeable putt. And I didn't leave myself
give me afterwards, just shredding it apart. In the back of my head, I know it was pretty good.
Even the holes that I parred, like I knew they were, that was really good. And I should have
been really, really happy, but I catch myself dissecting it. Turns out there might be some
psychological terms involved with this. One is discounting the positive. I thought it might be
like imposter syndrome, but that's kind of different. There might be some similarities in
there, but it's really not the same discounting positive and then counterfactual thinking.
There's somewhat the same, not exactly, but one basically the cognitive biases and a loose term
might be hindsight bias with my skill set, with my ability, with my club quality and experience,
like they don't golf once a week, maybe sometimes twice a week, but again, not avid and not out in
the yard practicing and not taking lessons and all the things. So what happens is I score a
bogey, which is one over par, and I'm looking at what if, if I would have only, if I would have
done this, and then I discount it, I take away some of that positives, like I should be at least
maybe a little spring in my step, don't do it. I'm positive that I've learned this from this
behavior, this thought process from my maternal grandparents and my mom. They downplay it a lot,
masked as modesty. I think there's reasons for that, I get it, but I bought into it heavy.
Sometimes I go over the board with it more for, I don't know, I hate to say comedic effect, like
I do try to get a little bit of a laugh sometimes. The other thing is, is like, I don't like the
idea of projecting arrogance. There's a big difference between competence and arrogance,
I get that, but I just don't want to be that guy. I just don't. So I, yeah, I do that, but I need to
have it in the back of my head, like that was pretty good. If you keep doing this, if you
practice, maybe if you sign up for some lessons, maybe you upgrade your clubs or grips or something
like that, you're going to get better and better. But for that, where you're at right now, that was
heck of a hole, right? That was a heck of a round or half a round. So yeah, big while,
Matt's golf game, Matt's golf outing, big deal. But it translates right to the base.
How many times have you had a vehicle head? And as a technical specialist, you spend two hours
trying to find an intermittent short that pops a fuse. And depending on what it is, where it is,
two hours is actually really good. But now that you know where the problem was and how you found
it, you start really discounting the accomplishment because now it's like, Oh my God, that was so easy.
It was so obvious. If I would have just this, if I would have just that, if I would have,
Oh my God, I had this one special tool, if I would have just got that right away,
you know, or if I would have set my meter up for the beep to make a sound, oh, it saved me some
time or had longer leads on my headlight or test light or whatever so that I could have seen it
while it was back there. I probably would have seen it flickering and I could have shaved 15
minutes, 30 minutes off of this. That's essentially the same thing. One, considering what you knew
at the time, most important, that you couldn't have known. You don't know where the problem is.
There's a whole bunch of variables you're trying to balance out. Why can't and I put myself very
much in this group very much. I'm right there with you. Why can't you go like, that was pretty good.
And next time I might get this tool out sooner. I might, you know what, I need to manufacture
some leads for my test lights, whatever they are, test, you know, a regular incandescent,
you know, 3157, 194 bulb, whatever you're using, or a meter that emits a sound,
something like that, you know, set up your scopes, right? Pico, we can set it up to do
some pretty cool stuff to alert you of certain phenomenon, like current exceeding a certain
amount or vice versa, you know, just there's so many things. Why can't both things be true?
Why couldn't what I did, that was a good find. Yeah, considering what you knew,
did, you didn't make any gross errors, big errors, big screw ups, you didn't go on a big
wild goose chase or anything like that. You didn't go spiraling down a rabbit hole.
Two hours isn't too bad. Next time armed with this knowledge, I might be able to shave some
time off in this exact type of a scenario, right? If it's totally exact, then what are you going
to say? Should I just went right to the problem? I suppose if you see it a few times, right, then
it's no different than a bulletin, instructing you to go look at a certain area, because it's a
known problem, fine. Or, you know, a mechanical specialist pulling that transmission out,
following the procedure, step by step, and then realizing I didn't have to take that out. I
didn't have to take that out. Or if I would have removed this, if I would have removed that, I
could have got this stuff all out of my way, this would have been wide open. So now doing
something at the book time or a little bit less doesn't seem like such an accomplishment.
You start discounting that because now armed with this knowledge I didn't have before,
I could have saved time. I could have done it faster yet. I think we've got to be careful with
that. Like, we can be okay with what we did. We can be, you know, happy with the results or,
you know, what we did, be able to learn, right, and just get better at it and use these new ideas
the next time around and find out if they work. I don't think we have to run ourselves into the
ground and we sure as heck don't need to run someone else down. I think that I've seen that happen,
luckily not in our shop. If we did, it was a long, long, long time ago. But I know other repair shops
that do it where now that others know of the result, what was found. Why did that take two hours?
Why did that take? You should have been able to do that well under book time. It just cutten
people down and not considering if you're in their shoes knowing what they knew or didn't know at
that time. Would you have done it so much faster? Are you sure about that? Or would you have found
it that much faster? I don't think so, right? You know, hypothetical bias, a lot of biases, right?
There's so many biases out there. Cognitive biases, egocentric bias and cognitive biases are just
so many of them. And I think just being aware of them. I know I've talked about biases quite a bit.
I probably will continue to do so because there's so many of them and they rear their heads
everywhere, regardless of where you're at. Be it socioeconomically or in life or
which side of the counter you're on or which end of the shop you're on. In front of the house,
back of the house. Are you the entry level tech or are you the master tech, right? As
quote-unquote experts, we kind of have a nasty, nasty habit of kind of an expert bias.
The curse of knowledge. I don't mean like Thanos, right? We're just got to do these
deeds for the good of everyone else. I mean, more so when we figure something out. I shouldn't even
say we. Yeah. When experts figure something out, a lot of times they put the pieces together. They
figure now it makes sense and it's that hindsight bias again. And really upward. Why? You know,
if I look at it, it's got to suck. Dude, Matt. That upward counterfactual thinking, right? It's
just almost rewriting reality and kind of have to just knock it off. Cut ourselves some slack.
Knowing what I knew. Not bad. First time I've ever seen anything like that or worked on anything
like that. I'll do better next time. I can do better. I'm going to take this. I'm going to learn
from it. A lot of benefit from it. And then maybe in the back of your head, just a little bit of a
pat on the back. Like done good at a boy. Electric and hybrid vehicles are here. And with them,
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aftermarket A to Z is brought to you by Autel. Autel is a global developer and manufacturer
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diagnostic solutions, visit Autel.com. So yeah, I'm going to probably try to start
in places outside of the shop to cut myself a little slack to be a little
more honest about an accomplishment. You're probably not going to see me celebrate
not my thing, but maybe crack a smile or I don't know, just at least be able to tell myself,
hey, that was pretty darn good. Even if it's a double bogey on a par, really hard par four,
par five, or even par three, I guess it doesn't matter what the whole is. If it's hard and difficult,
I hit a couple of really good shots. And even if my other shots weren't just so bad, but they're
just slightly bad enough to make those next ones difficult to be able to get the lower score,
be able to just be honest, right? There's any running theme to this should probably rename
the podcast something about honesty, because it brings it up so much. But yeah, can I just be
on the level with myself and go, that wasn't bad. You beat yourself up as much as you like,
that wasn't all that bad. Try to carry that over into work where I am my biggest critic,
bar none, bar none. And it's been that way for a long time. Luckily, I have worked for people
that know that. And if I do really make a mistake or really feel like I made a mistake,
they don't say anything. They don't have to. They already know I'm being way harder on myself than
they will be. In some cases, they almost have to try to pull me back a little bit. So I think many
of you are just like that. Can we use some of that? Like I feel like that's helped me get better
at what I do. But can I make it less negative, right? Can it be very much like early episodes
I've done with Margaret? I did a bad thing. I'm not a bad person. Can I take, you know, twist that
a little bit and be less I suck? I took a wrong turn. And then of course, don't just, I'm not saying,
forget about it. Use that for the next one and keep improving the same way,
hopefully, maybe even more because you're just not running yourself down. That's something I know
I've been extraordinarily good or bad at. Good at doing it, bad that I do it. Just run myself into
the ground about it because I just want to make sure I don't screw up again. So I would also like
to thank you guys for the messages. And it turns out I'm probably going to have to do more Mount
Rushmore type episodes or at least sprinkling some Rushmore stuff into the regular podcast episodes.
Like right now, I guess I've been getting a few on basketball because of the NBA playoffs.
I'm not an avid watcher. I watch highlights. Honestly, I thought OKC was just a shoe in
to win at all. I really did. I just did not see anybody stopping that juggernaut and Wemby and
the San Antonio Spurs did just that, took them seven games, but they did it. If you're not a
basketball fan, you might want to check out some highlights because one, the games, some of them
were blowouts, but some of those games were as good a games as you will ever see. Two, Wemby is
special. I don't know if his body will allow him to play a long career. So if you get a chance to
watch them, I think it's worth a few minutes to check it out, even if you're not a big fan.
Yeah, questions of like, you know, who are my top four or starting five and all time. I don't
know how you answer these things. You know, I just don't. Do you punish people for time?
So yeah, I don't know. You're going to have Jordan on there. How do you dislike him for whatever
reasons? How do you not have LeBron on there? Is that good? Yes. So those are two shoe ins,
and then after that, it just kind of gets rough for me. I feel like I almost need to put Larry
Burt on there. The reason is, is I don't know any, any professional athlete,
namely basketball, that somebody gets the ball or doesn't. I mean, before the play
starts, they're walking out of a timeout. I've never heard of someone trash talking where
they tell everyone on the other team what play is going to be run, where they're going to get the
ball, where they're going to shoot it, how much time they're going to leave on the clock. And oh,
by the way, there's nothing you're going to do about it. And then go do it. What? It's just
most other trash talk is telling them each other their mom, something about their moms, or you
can't guard me or stuff like that. And this dude, Larry Bird comes out of timeouts, tells everyone
on the other team, I'm going to get the ball right here. I'm going to dribble over here. I'm
going to give you something, which is basically I'm going to pump fake or I'm going to do something.
And then I'm going to shoot it in your face. And he does it. And he didn't do it like once.
Like this is time and again. That blows my mind, right? Walking up to somebody
during shoot around at the beginning of the game or halftime warmups and basically saying,
hey, I got you a Christmas present. I'm going to give it to you early. And then they're sitting on
the bench for resting. It could be a starter getting the ball near that team's bench, the opposing
team's bench and say, hey, shoot the ball and Merry Christmas. And then it goes in. Like,
yeah, he's got to be out there. Like what the heck? Center I struggle, you know,
in a few years it might be Wemby. I don't know. Again, are we punishing Will Chamberlain for
when he was around? Because in today's game, if we just pluck him out of his timeline and stick
him in ours, he's not going to be as skilled. Athletically, he's probably as gifted as any player
has ever been. Size, speed, agility. He was a freak of nature. Shaq is dominant as anyone,
but I just got this thing for Kim Elijah one nicknamed the dream. He was selected in the draft
number one over Michael Jordan. It was Kim Elijah one, Sam Bowie, Michael Jordan in that order.
Sam Bowie ran into injuries. Never got to really find out how good he was. I don't think he was
going to be Michael Jordan. Nobody ever faulted Houston for taking Elijah one over Jordan.
That about sums it all up, don't it? He's in the top 10 in the league and scoring rebounds,
blocks and steals as a center seven foot. I don't think he was actually seven feet. It's more like
six, 10. But again, just an athletic freak. So that leaves one left point guard. I'm so torn.
Magic Stockton. It's just magic. There's like phases of him. There's different phases. There's
earlier rookie magic who is a little more athletic, would get steals. Terrible shooter.
Just terrible. There's the version where he worked on his jump shot and it was pretty good,
but he slowed down a bit. So he's more of a defensive liability, right? 69 point guard,
more like 68 Still at the time, especially, that's huge for a point guard. Stockton,
he's more like 6162 Better shooter. I mean, honestly, you couldn't go wrong with
either one. Let's be real. I mean, we got to see it with Dream Team, right? 92. But Larry's back was
absolutely destroyed. He had come out of retirement. Magic was coming out of retirement with the HIV
diagnosis. So they're not like what they were. And Jordan was kind of like at the height of his
powers. You can't go wrong with either one. Having Magic and Larry and Jordan on the same
team is just too appealing, but I honestly don't have a problem with thinking it's Stockton either.
So we'll just go with magic. There's the starting five. Jordan, Magic in the back court,
Larry Bird and LeBron. And I came in the front court. There you go. Good timing for this time
of year. I hope you got a kick out of this episode. And please keep hitting me with the
messages. If you have more ideas for content, let me know, especially like the technical stuff.
Like what would you like to hear that's more to do with technical, be it tools and equipment or
testing or problems or system theory and operation? I would really appreciate it.
And if you want to get ahold of me, you can email me at matfonslowpodcast.gmail.com or you can
Facebook message me. No problem. Yeah. Thank you again for listening. Thank you to the
Automotive Repair Podcast Network. And until next time, take care.
Conversations in the industry start here. Want Matt to cover a specific topic?
Check the show notes for his email. Your input matters.
About this episode
Golf self-criticism becomes a lens for diagnosing intermittent electrical problems—where hindsight bias and the “curse of knowledge” can make earlier effort feel “obvious” only after the fix. The hosts connect that emotional loop to real troubleshooting: spending “two hours” chasing a short that only shows up sometimes, then losing time without the right setup. They emphasize better test setup and tools (including scope-style alerts) and broaden the mindset for EV and modern systems like TPMS and ADAS.
In this episode, Matt starts on the golf course and ends up right back in the service bay, because apparently, even a decent round of golf can turn into a cognitive psychology lesson.
After shooting a personally strong nine-hole score, Matt catches himself doing what many technical and mechanical specialists do every day: ignoring the accomplishment and obsessing over the shots, tests, tools, or decisions that could have been better. That leads into a discussion of discounting the positive, upward counterfactual thinking, hindsight bias, expert bias, and the curse of knowledge.
The point is not to stop improving. The point is to stop rewriting reality after the fact. A two-hour intermittent short diagnosis may feel “obvious” once the problem is found, but it was not obvious when the vehicle came in. The same applies to repairs, removals, procedures, and every job where experience only becomes obvious after you earn it.
Matt also closes with some listener-driven Mount Rushmore talk, including an all-time basketball starting five featuring Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, LeBron James, and Hakeem Olajuwon.
Key Topics
Why a good result can still feel disappointing when you focus only on what could have gone better
The difference between honest reflection and beating yourself into the ground
Discounting the positive and how it shows up in diagnostics
Upward counterfactual thinking: “If only I had done this sooner…”
Hindsight bias in the shop after the failure is already found
Why “that was obvious” is usually only true after the fact
How technical specialists can learn from a job without erasing the accomplishment
The danger of judging another specialist’s time after you already know the answer
Expert bias, the curse of knowledge, and why experience can distort how we evaluate others
Giving yourself enough credit while still getting better
Listener messages and future Mount Rushmore-style segments
Matt’s all-time basketball starting five discussion
Pull Quote Options
“Once you know where the problem was, it starts feeling obvious. But it wasn’t obvious when you started.”
“Why can’t both things be true? That was a good find, and next time I might do it faster.”
“Learning from it does not require running yourself into the ground.”
“Knowing what I knew at the time, that wasn’t bad.”
Thanks to our Partner, Pico Technology
Are you chasing elusive automotive problems? Pico Technology empowers you to see what's really happening. Their PicoScope oscilloscopes transform your diagnostic capabilities. Visit PicoAuto.com
Thanks to our Partner, Autel
From drivability diagnostics and TPMS service to ADAS and advanced safety systems, Autel helps technicians follow OEM procedures and repair with confidence. Learn more at Autel.com
