The Red X factor:

During the Dot Com era there was a Legend and the legend starts with IBM having a Mainframe computer, one of the worlds most resourced machines and suddenly went offline. No one, current engineers, mainframe experts, etc. could figure out how to solve this mainframe’s issues and get it back online. So IBM set out on a search to find a team member of the original team that designed and built this mainframe. Digging through the past all the engineers who were involved had passed away. Then IBM located one guy from the team, he had retired in the early 80s which meant 20 years of technological inactivity. They flew this sole surviving engineer from his home in Iowa to Seattle to work on the problem. They put him up in a swank Hotel where they had a suite reserved for several weeks. The first day he walked into the mainframe spent an hour or so reviewing diagnostics that he was supplied then calmly walked over to a circuit and drew a RED X, he then walked over to the rest of the team and told them that was where they would find the problem. This expert then went to the hotel, picked up his things, got on a plane and returned home.

When the engineers disassembled the Circuit that had the RED X on it, they were amazed to find that it was exactly where the problem was. A few days later, IBM received an invoice from their retired engineer 250,000! IBM felt that there was no way his 2 hours of work could be worth this amount of money in. So IBM being IBM returned the invoice to this engineer and ask that he itemize the invoice. The engineer was then reminded that he was retired for 20 years and out of practice and that he had only spent 2 hours fixing the issue. IBM had done him a favor involving him at all and therefore could not be worth the amount on the invoice.

A few days later, IBM received an itemized bill from the engineer which read:
One Sharpie marker to make Red X mark – $1.25
Knowing where to place the X – $249,998.75

Thus The The Red X factor:

The History of this Parable

This is a parable which extends back in time several hundred years with versions being car mechanics, blacksmiths, steam plant managers, and share croppers to name a few as well as incorporating practically anyone famous for his knowledge that could be offered up as the virtuoso in this tale: Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, George Washington, Unnamed mechanics, electricians, plumbers, computer wizards, and other craftsmen. But it would appear that there is a trueism to this legend, according to a google search, there was a documented instance of this legend. A man named Charlie Steinmetz who was in fact a prominent electrical engineer in the early twentieth century. The story goes, not long after his retirement, General Electric had a problem. The story is much the same accept here the X making utensil is Chalk and the amount in dispute was $10,000. which make the story less sexy than our title name the RED X factor. The WHITE X factor did not sound as commanding.

The Moral

The moral comes into play when considering the owner of the problem disputing the cost of the service. The owner of the problem got a lot more than he was billed for when considering the resources that had already been spent on the efforts of his own staff and loss in revenue while the mainframe was shut down. This Legend demonstrates the difference between the value of an action and that of the knowledge behind the action.

Finally

Experience is the Red X. To make any Business, Product, or Service to get off the ground you need Red X. Knowing when you have the Red X and when you need to hire the Red X is what ultimately determines success.