A lead avionics tech told me my wiring runs looked like spaghetti, and he was right
Six months ago I was doing a panel upgrade on a King Air 200 at a shop in Wichita and thought my harness routing was fine. The lead tech, Ray, looked at my work and said straight to my face, "Would you want to trace that in the dark with a flashlight at 2am?" That one question made me change the whole way I bundle and label. Now I cut every wire to exact length, use lacing cord instead of zip ties, and tag both ends before I even strip a single lead. What did a seasoned tech say to you that changed your bench habits?
That line about tracing it in the dark with a flashlight at 2am hits hard. A buddy of mine got a similar wake up call when an old Gulfstream guy walked by his open avionics bay and just said "son, that looks like a rat built a nest in there." He was so mad at first, but then he started really looking at his runs and saw the crossed wires, the slack loops, the tags that only made sense to him. Now he laces everything, keeps bends at a set radius, and labels both ends before he crimps a single pin. Funny how one sentence from someone who has been doing it for 30 years sticks with you longer than any manual ever did.