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Let’s use the proper tools to solve problems and challenges

I recently had to remove several branches from a shrub in my backyard because the shrub, perhaps somewhat neglected last year, had grown disproportionately for its section of the yard. The task seemed extremely simple to me, but it became complicated because, at first, I didn’t use the right tools.

Initially I took a small handsaw, suitable for cutting branches, and slowly began to saw the two larger branches. It took me more time and energy than I anticipated. Then I went to my garage, took some special pruning pliers and, with that tool, the rest of the work was done in a short time.

The problem was not the branches, but that I was not using the correct tool. Just because a tool was at hand (the handsaw), it doesn’t mean it was the right tool. 

The situation reminded me of times in my childhood when, for whatever reason, to remove a screw we used a table knife instead of a screwdriver. And then we would flip that same knife and use the handle like a hammer.

As an adult, although I still appreciate the “utility knife” trick, I learned to use the right tools for each job, with a few exceptions, as indicated by the true story shared above.

The situation also led me to think that many times, when faced with problems or circumstances in life, we don’t overcome those situations mainly because we are using the wrong tools. We get so used to a kind of "lifelong multipurpose knife" that then we apply the same tool over and over again to different circumstances.

For some people, that metaphorical multipurpose knife is the beliefs they adhere to, or a certain interpretation of a certain holy book. No matter what happens and, more importantly, regardless of whether a verbatim quote from their holy book applies or not, they quote it as if quoting were the solution. And when nothing is solved, they don’t change tools, but just look for another quote.

For others, the multipurpose knife is what they learned within their family, even though it was learned many decades ago and in a totally different geographic and cultural context.
 
I remember, for example, a man who, after a presentation I made about future trends, came to me and said: “Francisco, I liked everything you shared. But it's not what my grandmother taught me”. And having said that, the good man turned around and left.

In many other cases, we try to solve life's challenges not from what we know, but from what we ignore, but without acknowledging that we ignore it and without seeking to learn it. We thus repeat a cycle that Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his must-read essay Self-Reliance described as "dragging the corpse of the past" through life.

Learning to be an adult consists of developing the wisdom to put aside the tools that no longer serve us, even if they are “multipurpose”, and adopt those “tools” able to lead us beyond the challenges.

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