Various books and websites use a ‘toolkit’ metaphor to describe a collection of resources they offer to leaders and managers. This metaphor invites readers to think about the addition of new or more specialised tools helping expand one’s skills and abilities, and so being more productive and/or promotable.
For some, the toolkit or toolbox metaphor also reminds them of aphorisms or quotes such as:
Aphorisms
“A bad worker always blames his or her tools”, or conversely
“A good worker never blames his or her tools.”
Selected quotes
“We become what we behold. We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us.” (Marshall McLuhan)
“To the man who only has a hammer, everything he encounters begins to look like a nail.” (Abraham Maslow)
“It’s best to have your tools with you. If you don’t you are apt to find something you didn’t expect and get discouraged.” (Stephen King – On Writing)
“The beginner mind and the wise mind are one and the same; the only difference is the tools, information, and experience on which they draw.” (Shellen Lubin)
“Everything in the hands of an oppressor is a tool.” (Seun Ayilara)
“Metaphor is not only a means of delight but also, and above all, a tool of cognition.” (Umberto Eco)
“It may not be the problem that’s the problem. Rather, the problem might be the tool that I’m using to try and solve the problem.” (Craig D. Lounsbrough)
(Source: www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/tools)
Reddit contributors
“A good worker works for a boss who gives him or her the tools needed to do the job”
“If you want to pay me to spend time chopping down trees with sledgehammers to save money on axes, that’s your call”
“Either schedule time for maintenance or your machines will schedule it for you”
“A fool with a tool is still a fool” Grady Booch (quoted by Judy Ryan on LinkedIn)
In my previous post, I mused on the question of technology (including AI) becoming the client, with workers as its servants. The flipping of the relationship between the worker and his or her tools prompted me to recall a lesson learned long ago (once upon a time).
‘Dancing with Dolly’ – A Parable
(Sub-titled – A fool ‘on the tools‘)
Summer jobs may only last a few weeks between college terms, but some of the lessons they offer can last a lifetime. As a naive 18-year-old student, my introduction to the role of builder’s labourer was revelatory.
Sometime during the first day or two on the job, I was invited to use a pneumatic tool they called a ‘dancing dolly’ to compress the sand in a trench that had been dug for drainage pipes. The site was a greenfield area about 30 minutes from our hometown, and the contract involved leveling the area, laying pipes, and creating roads, curbs, and other infrastructure ready for vacant blocks to be sold to builders or potential homeowners.
The tool stood about 1.5m tall and was of quite simple design. At its foot was a rounded metal pad about 13 cm (5 inches) across. This was attached to the end of a metal shaft which pumped in and out of a cylindrical casing. At the top was a connection to the compressed air hose, and the lever trigger (something like a bike brake).
More modern compaction equipment tends to use flat plates (one brand being poetically called ‘Wacker’) beneath vibrating motors, but back then my ‘hand-held’ tool was easier to lower into the trench and manoeuver in that confined space.
Wary of the risk that I might flatten my foot by standing too close, I held the tool as far in front of me as I could manage. Bear in mind the tool was quite heavy, and because of the rapid pumping of the shaft, my arms vibrated violently whenever the trigger was held down.
My helpful workmates gave advice on how much compaction was needed, and roughly how long I needed to work over each area to achieve the required result. Apart from showing me how the on/off trigger worked, they gave no other advice on how to hold the tool. I used it for several extended periods on that first day. By the time I got home that night, my arms felt like they had been wrenched from their sockets, and both my arms and shoulders ached – deeply.
I probably used this tool for another hour or two on the next day before one of my ‘mates’ took pity on me, and showed me the correct way to stand closer to, but side-on to it. This way, the main casing was adjacent to my left thigh. My feet were positioned to the right of the pounding pad, and so were out of harm’s way. I didn’t have to use my arms to move the beast backward and forward. Instead, I could hold it with a more relaxed grip, and gently nudge it with my thigh and a slight sway of the hips.
This was a revelation! While there was still a good deal of arm shaking involved, I wasn’t straining to move the tool using the smaller muscles of my arms and shoulders. Now I understood why the tool was nick-named a ‘dancing dolly’. Sometimes it’s not the tool that’s the problem, but the ‘fool’ using it.
I hadn’t anticipated that ‘dancing’ with a pneumatic compaction device might be the best way to cooperate with it, and to achieve the required outcome with less pain and effort.
While I returned to college toned and tanned from my time ‘on the tools*’, I also carried the insight that knowledge of how to cooperate with tools made the work flow smoother – with less effort and pain.
Maybe my workmates could have shown me the right (ergonomic) way to position myself adjacent to the tool on day one, rather than enjoying the spectacle of my struggle into the second day. In today’s OHS climate, they might have suffered disciplinary consequences had a supervisor noticed that a novice was the victim of their ‘initiation’ ritual. On the other hand, my muscle memory of that experience and the lessons involved remain quite vivid decades later – so I thank them.
*Australian vernacular for working with your hands is to be ‘on the tools’.
So what?
A story that needs to be explained and unpacked is not a very useful insight tool.
That said, hopefully, dear reader, you recognise that decision-making, problem-solving, strategy, and planning tools are also only as good as the use that’s made of them.
See also:
Policy Precedents: Benefits and Risks
Questioning Frameworks and Options
Free Strategy and Policy Toolkit
Policy advocacy – tools worth having
