Pico Technology makes diagnostic tools used by mechanics. In this ad, they’re talking about PicoScope, which helps you look at electrical signals from a car using a computer.
Concept
auto diagnostics
Auto diagnostics means figuring out what’s wrong with a car using testing tools. The ad is saying the right tool can help you find the fault faster instead of guessing.
PicoScope is a diagnostic tool that shows electrical signals from the car. Instead of guessing, it helps a mechanic see what the sensors are doing in real time.
A waveform is a visual picture of an electrical signal over time. Mechanics use it to check if the car’s electrical parts are sending the right signals.
Autel North America is the part of Autel that helps shops and technicians in the U.S. and Canada. They offer training and support for the diagnostic tools mentioned in the ad.
ADOS is an acronym for another kind of diagnostic feature mentioned in the ad. The speaker doesn’t define it here, but it’s grouped with safety/advanced systems diagnostics.
LIVE
This is the Automotive Repair Podcast Network.
Welcome everyone to yet another episode of diagnosing the
aftermarket data Z. I'm Matt Fonzell and when enough people
make false promises, words stop meaning anything. Then there
are no more answers, only better and better lies. That more
after a word from our sponsors, Autel, Pico Technology
tired of guesswork and your auto diagnostics need to pinpoint
faults quickly and accurately. PicoScope will turn your PC
into a powerful diagnostic tool. See live waveforms from
sensors, injectors and ignition systems. See the problem, solve
it faster. Visit picoauto.com. That's picoauto.com. 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
from drivability diagnostics and TPMS service to ADOS and
There's a huge jump in production. It's hard to go
against that. Like most of these things I talk about, it just
seems to come down to everybody being honest, honest with each
other and honest with themselves. And if everybody's honest
with each other and honest with themselves, yeah, I think you
could have a straight hourly repair shop where production is
good. Absolutely. Could you have a shop that's pure flat rate
and everybody's happy? Absolutely. Are either one of those
extremes easy? I don't think so. I don't know that for the most
part when you're dealing with people, be it employees,
employers, managers, managers, clients, it's not always easy.
It shouldn't always be super hard, but it isn't always easy.
I think what happens a lot of times is the pay plans are
developed in a way to they themselves manage people. And
once you do that, you've really set yourself up to fail. That's
what you see happening is right. It kind of goes through the
hand me down. If I worked for somebody, they had a production
type plan. I hated it. I could never hit these numbers. It
was so unfair. Okay, now I'm going to start my own shop. I'm
just going to pay people when they're here because that is
much more ethical. If I had that kind of stability, I could
have worked so much better and quality would have been better
because I saw all these shortcuts being done and then
they opened their shop and however many years later, they're
now doing the same thing. I do think you can look at, not
all by any means, but you can look at a lot of shop owners
that were former technicians and on the level they might
tell you, it may be not see it that way anymore. But if you
could strip it back and even take a lot of context out of
it, they have now become that which they at one point
despised. They may blame it on misunderstanding things and
there's a lot of truth to that. But a lot of it too is just
frustration, frustration, anxiety, fear. So go to Game of
Thrones Daenerys. There's a hint to a predisposition that
Targaryen name, she was related to the Mad King. There was
this predisposition that's been kind of laid out and I think
the hope was that she would avoid that instead of fall
victim to it. But I don't think it had anything to do with
the blood running through her veins. It had to do with the
experiences from a very young child, even a baby, not that
she would necessarily remember stuff at the baby level, but
probably earlier than a lot of us would lend credit to and I
mean that so much for storyline, real world. You know,
assassins were sent out for her. She was always on the move.
Over time, all these things being enslaved, being sold,
being abused, and then garnering resources and losing
some of those resources, losing some of her dragons, losing
friends, feeling betrayed or outright being betrayed, drove
her to what we would say is madness. That new shop owner who
used to despise the pay schemes, who used to despise this
type of work or that type of work or this type of working
condition or that type of working condition and lack of
information, lack of equipment. Now they have the controls in
having to deal with ungrateful employees, ungrateful
clients, you know, employees like, okay, I got the best
equipment. Man, I wish I had this stuff. You guys are so
lucky and now they don't take care of it and that is for
frustrating. But it's all these things, all these little
things, if you will, and some not so little things add up
over time. They just chip away. And next thing you know, it's
like, you know, next time I'm not buying the nicest piece of
equipment, I'm going to buy the next level down or a couple
levels down because you jerks don't take care of nothing
anyways. And then the pay, like God, I tried to treat everyone
so good and man, you guys got so much better than I had it
and I can't get you to bust your tails for nothing. Are you
kidding me? All right, new pay plan. You guys could make
more money if you work harder. Here you go. And then one day
do you wake up and look in the mirror and go, oh no, or it's
justified. It isn't anything but you weren't even driven to it.
It makes sense now. And maybe you do a few things that you
could feel kind of gorgly better than your former employers.
Maybe not. Maybe it's they had it right. I get it now. I think
you could learn a little bit by watching Daenerys' Storyline
and Game of Thrones. I will just say that the show, when it
was good, like when it was hitting, man, it ranks up
there with some of the very, very best TV shows of all
time. And then I guess the show is based off of some books,
right? Written by George R.R. Martin. You might be able to
beat me up in the comments about them. I think that's who it
is. Anyways, as they made the show and it became wildly
popular, the show started to outpace the novels so they
didn't have the source material. I think he was somewhat
involved with where it was going, but now the screenwriters
are really writing the entire thing and then time
constraints. Like they had to finish it up in two seasons
and they had too many loose ends to tie up. They had too many
things going on and I think you start rushing things and
skipping over key details or, yeah, as speeding through
Storylines, forgetting to tie up certain loose ends. What do
you do? I'm sure if they had it their way, they would have
dragged it on as long as they could or been able to wait
for the author to finish those novels. And who's to say the
novels would have been better? I don't know. That's an
assumption, right? Ultimately, it's one of the better shows
that have ever been on. Did they end it so wrong? I'm not
sure they did. Was I hoping for a different scenario? Yeah.
But the way it ended may not be as bad as it gets credit for.
So, yeah, if you haven't seen Game of Thrones, I would
consider it. It's hard to watch it unspoiled, especially if
you've just listened to the podcast, this episode, but
also all the stuff online. It would be very difficult. And
then, yeah, if you do, just watch the Daenerys storyline and
see if you agree. Yeah, I look forward to the comments. If
you're watching this on YouTube, please give it a like,
make some comments to the video down there, suggestions,
maybe criticisms of the relations or the analogies. And
yeah, thank you very much for listening. Thank you so much
to our sponsors, Autel, Pico Technology. Thank you so much
to the Aftermarket Radio Network. And if you have ideas for
the show, fire them off in the comment section of YouTube.
You can email me at mattfonslowpodcast at gml.com.
You can also shoot me a message through Facebook Messenger.
Until next time, take care.
Matters
About this episode
PicoScope and Autel sponsor the show with a focus on turning diagnostic workflows into faster, more accurate testing—live waveforms, guided repair support, and coverage for areas like TPMS and ADOS. From there, the hosts use Game of Thrones metaphors to explore how technicians who become shop owners can feel frustration, anxiety, and even “become what they once despised.” They dig into the real pressures behind pay plans, incentives, equipment costs, and service-information subscriptions that shape shop behavior and quality.
In this episode, Matt Fanslow uses Game of Thrones, specifically the arc of Daenerys Targaryen, as a metaphor for what can happen when a mechanical or technical specialist moves from employee to shop owner. The comparison is not that former technicians suddenly “burn everything to the ground,” but that people can start with strong ideals, endure pressure, accumulate responsibility, and slowly rationalize decisions they once hated from the other side of the counter.
Matt draws a parallel between Daenerys’ journey, from abused and powerless exile to powerful ruler, and the path of a technician who opens a shop after years of saying, “If I were in charge, I’d do things differently.” At first, that new owner may try to build the kind of workplace they always wanted: better pay, better equipment, better treatment, and fewer manipulative incentive structures. But then reality intrudes. Bills come due. Tooling, software, subscriptions, payroll, benefits, facility costs, and client pressure pile up. What once looked like greed from the employee side may start to look like survival from the owner side.
A major thread in the episode is the difference between explaining behavior and excusing it. Matt is careful not to justify poor management, bad pay plans, or unfair treatment. Instead, he looks at how stress, fear, frustration, and financial pressure can slowly change a person’s beliefs. The former employee who despised production-based pay may eventually install a production-based pay plan. The shop owner who wanted to buy the best equipment may eventually stop doing that when employees fail to care for it. The person who promised to never become “that owner” may wake up, or perhaps never wake up, having become very close to the thing they once opposed.
The episode also touches on incentive design. Matt discusses how incentive-based pay plans can increase production, but only if the surrounding system is fair. When a mechanical or technical specialist is paid based on production, but too many external forces affect their ability to produce, the pay plan can feel like punishment. Dispatch, workflow, parts delays, bad information, poor estimating, broken processes, and uneven support can all take money out of the worker’s hands. In that environment, the game feels unfair, even if the pay plan itself is not inherently unethical.
Matt argues that pay plans should not be used as a substitute for management. A compensation structure cannot do the work of leadership, communication, process improvement, fairness, and accountability. Straight hourly can work. Flat rate can work. Hybrid incentive plans can work. But none of them work automatically, and none of them remove the need for honest management and honest self-assessment.
The larger point is that people rarely change all at once. They shift slowly. The language changes first. Then the justifications. Then the policies. Then the culture. Like Daenerys, the fall is not simply about one bad decision at the end. It is the accumulated effect of pressure, loss, betrayal, fear, and power.
Matt closes by reflecting on Game of Thrones itself, noting that the show was among the best when it was at its peak, even if the ending remains debated. He suggests that Daenerys’ storyline may be worth revisiting not just as fantasy, but as a study in how ideals can erode when pressure, power, and isolation build over time.
Key Topics
The former technician turned shop owner: The episode examines what happens when someone who once criticized shop ownership suddenly has to carry the risk, payroll, bills, tooling costs, subscriptions, client demands, and employee issues themselves.
Daenerys Targaryen as a shop-owner metaphor: Daenerys begins with a desire to break abusive systems, but eventually becomes capable of the very behavior she once opposed. Matt uses that arc to frame how former employees can become the kind of owners they used to resent.
Explaining versus excusing: A central distinction in the episode is that understanding why owners behave a certain way does not automatically make those behaviors right.
Incentive pay and production pressure: Production-based pay plans can produce measurable gains, but they also create resentment when employees are held accountable for factors outside their control.
The danger of using pay plans as management: Matt argues that compensation systems cannot replace leadership, process design, accountability, and honest communication.
Stress, fear, and rationalization: The episode explores how frustration, anxiety, financial pressure, and disappointment can slowly alter a person’s beliefs and management style.
The slow drift into becoming what you opposed: The episode’s core warning is that becoming “that owner” usually does not happen in one dramatic moment. It happens one rationalization at a time.
Quotes
“When enough people make false promises, words stop meaning anything. Then there are no more answers, only better and better lies.”
“We have to be able to explain things without excusing them.”
“The pay plan cannot be the manager.”
“You can have a straight hourly shop where production is good. You can have a flat-rate shop where people are happy. But neither one happens by accident.”
“A production incentive becomes punishment when too many things outside the employee’s control take money out of their hands.”
“A lot of people do not become bad owners all at once. It is slow, and then all at once.”
“The danger is not just power. It is pressure, fear, frustration, and then the story we tell ourselves afterward.”
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
