How to get your CEO to buy you a Mantis Scope....

[Smokey]

If he asks if he can help with anything around the office, get him to try to rework a board with 0402 components on it. It doesn't hurt that he sat down at the station with the worst scope in the office that only gets used for really big stuff.

After about 10 minutes he started cursing at the microscope and asked me what the best scope he could get for rework was. 

[Fsck]

that's a pretty underhanded tactic 

[mikeselectricstuff]

..and get a Mantis sales guy to loan one so he can use it before finding out how much it costs..   
A similar technique works for people who don't understand why a Metcal or JBC is worth the money....

[free_electron]

yep. that's how i got mine in at work. have the boss fidget with something small , then get a demo in. it takes 1 look through the mantis and they are convinced...

[mrflibble]

that's a pretty underhanded tactic 

Yes, very underhanded. I like it!   

[calin]

he he .. (insert Mr. Burns voice here) ... exceeeleeent !!!

This remebers me of a tactic I used to apply @ my old job where I was doing IVR (interactive voice repose) stuff - when in a meeting and some dumb ass VP which has no idea about telephony and VR systems asks why we need this much money for a certain project we (me and my guys) switched on the tech slang like PBX , UCS, ICMP, RTP , SIP ... Worked like a charm every single time with every single guy. He will make a face like this during the meeting ....  .. and next day we usually got an e-mail "Wow.. you guys are doing really complex stuff. Keep up the great work. Here are the $$$ "

Priceless 

[Bored@Work]

we (me and my guys) switched on the tech slang like PBX , UCS, ICMP, RTP , SIP ...

Tried and trusted methods when asked stuff like this:

Have two PowerPoint files sitting on your laptop's desktop. One named something like "<subject>-short.ppt", the other "<subject>-detailed.ppt". Plug the laptop into the projector when they ask for an explanation and show them the two ppt files icons. Ask them if they want a short or a detailed explanation while you move with the mouse between the two file icons.

They almost always pick "<subject>-short.ppt". However, it doesn't matter what they pick, since both files are the same  . In the presentation you carpet bomb them with technical details until their pea-sized brains shuts down. Make sure you comment slides with complicated images with words like "this is a simplified view of ...", "when omitting complex details we end up with ...", "not going into technical details ...".

[lapm]

  , too bad i cant use any of those tricks in my current job.

[nctnico]

And how would that work with a female CEO (aka wife)?

[calin]

And how would that work with a female CEO (aka wife)?

OH MY .. DO NOT!!! and .. I REPEAT .... DO NOT TRY THIS ON THE REAL CEO !!!! You will end up fired and sleeping in the dogs house for a month  .. I hope you read this in time to not try it 

[kayvee]

And how would that work with a female CEO (aka wife)?

Get her to do the repetitive inspection work. 

She is the one now suggesting a desktop AOI system.

[mrflibble]

OH MY .. DO NOT!!! and .. I REPEAT .... DO NOT TRY THIS ON THE REAL CEO !!!! You will end up fired and sleeping in the dogs house for a month  .. I hope you read this in time to not try it 

Is this dog house equipped with a mantis scope & internet connectivity? Beer fridge? Choices, choices...

[calin]

... If we take into account the luxury some dogs are being treated these days we may be surprised of the amenities it has.  Believe-it or not in Arizona (where I am)  there are  dog houses with air conditioning for sale  .. literally is going on ?!!

So son we may want to "have a dogs life" ... not too sure about the Mantis scope ... if the previous owner was into electronics you may have a chance... Beer is guaranteed.

[Smokey]

So if a dog was into electronics, what would be work on?
Hacking his shock collar?

[calin]

Or maybe installing solar panels on the roof 

[DmitryL]

So if a dog was into electronics, what would be work on?
Hacking his shock collar?

Sorry, couldn't resist

[Rigby]

I find that scare tactics work well.  They are also pretty underhanded.

"If we don't do/buy/hire A, we'll go B amount slower, losing C amount of money per D time period, etc."

[Bored@Work]

I find that scare tactics work well.  They are also pretty underhanded.

"If we don't do/buy/hire A, we'll go B amount slower, losing C amount of money per D time period, etc."

Scare tactics? Where I work this is called "making a business case"

[Smokey]

"If we don't do/buy/hire A, we'll go B amount slower, losing C amount of money per D time period, etc."

Ya, that sounds like logic to me.  Which usually also doesn't work too well with the manager types.  I'll stick to trickery

[Rigby]

"If we don't do/buy/hire A, we'll go B amount slower, losing C amount of money per D time period, etc."

Ya, that sounds like logic to me.  Which usually also doesn't work too well with the manager types.  I'll stick to trickery

Well, I agree, but they expect some logical argument from me, and if they see "we could lose up to $4,500,000 over three years" they don't see $3,500 as too much of an insurance policy against that.

[echen1024]

We can say that time = money. and if we lose x time of productivity each day, we will in reality be losing y amount of money. SO we need this new $450,000 Agilent scope and a mantis microscope.