October 16, 2025

What about the “Knowing Where To Tap It” story?

Lots of people replied to my last message (subject: Rethinking the “Picasso Napkin” Story) with a reference to the old “knowing where to tap it” story.

For example:

Ah, but what about that “Banging a pipe: $1, knowing where to bang it: $999,999” story? ;-)

(Thanks, CA!)

As luck would have it, I tackled this story back in 2017:

Rethinking the “Knowing Where To Tap It” story

Looking back on both stories now, there are a few parallels.

Parallel 1 - Billing In Arrears

In my article on the “Knowing Where To Tap It” story, the point I chose to focus on was that the consultant surprised the client with a big bill after the fact instead of presenting a price up front.

The price is also presented in arrears in the “Picasso Napkin” story but I chose not to focus on that because 1) we don’t know whether the lady bought the sketch or not, 2) an impulsive B2C purchase is materially different from a mission critical B2B purchase, and 3) “billing in arrears” was not the point I wanted to focus on.

Parallel 2 - Seller Is Famous

IMHO, the key point of the Picasso Napkin story is that the seller (i.e., Picasso) is famous. This is also true in the KWTTI story, albeit a more niche type of fame.

From the article:

Alice asks around and finds Bob. Bob is the foremost expert on nuclear reactors.

Bob is the recognized authority in the space. This is a lower level of fame compared to a household name like Picasso, but to people concerned with running a nuclear reactor, Bob is a celebrity.

Turns out, it’s pretty important to be famous if you want to charge more than most everyone else.

Parallel 3 - Extremely Fast Delivery

The central theme of both stories is this:

A seller completes their work extremely quickly and presents a bill that the buyer feels is unfairly high given the apparent lack of difficulty.

But would the lady have preferred to sit for hours instead of minutes waiting for the sketch?

Would the power plant owner have preferred that the plant be down for days instead of hours waiting for the fix?

The rational answer to both of these questions is “Heck no!” but guess what?

Humans aren’t always rational.