This comedy sketch illustrates a couple fundamental problems faced by many businesses, including those in the medical device development industry. First is that customers often sometimes need to be “taught” what to buy, as they may come in with distorted expectations (and especially so for first-time customers and newer companies). A certain level of trust is required for this interaction.

A second problem is poor integration between departments. As the video illustrates, the managers are not at all in-tune with the realistic considerations that engineers face, leading to comedic levels of misunderstanding and poor interaction. One thing to consider is that a lot of development pitfalls – such as poor security in computer systems and poor testing in medical device development – occur because managers push unrealistic expectations and hasty development timetables on to engineers.

While I have never faced a similar situation in a medical context, it is very easy to imagine scenarios in the future where I would. I have faced overbearing expectations in club activities, for example. What overblown expectations have you guys previously faced?