PSA: My lead told me I was chasing zero defects too hard on sheet metal patches

I used to spend 30 minutes smoothing every rivet on a patch until it looked like glass. Last month my lead pointed out I was wasting time on non-structural surfaces that will get painted over anyway. He showed me the maintenance manual tolerance specs and how much they actually allow. Now I focus my time on critical areas and finish the rest to just acceptable. Has anyone else had a mentor tell them they were overdoing something simple?

2 comments

2 Comments

lindahunt27d ago

My old boss once told me I was spending too much time polishing the underside of car fenders (the part nobody ever sees). He was right, I was just being a perfectionist for no reason. It's funny how we get stuck on making something perfect when it'll be hidden forever.

the_hannah27d ago

Read this and felt personally attacked @lindahunt. I once spent two hours making sure the inside of a drawer was perfectly sanded before realizing I was the only person who would ever open it. We really do waste our best energy on invisible things.

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