Why Tools Matter

 tool (tool) n. 1. a thing (usually something held in the hand) for working on something. 2. a simple machine. 3. anything used in an occupation or pursuit, a dictionary is a useful tool. 4. a person used as a mere instrument by another.                       Oxford American Dictionary

One day as I was driving down the freeway, I had a peculiar thought. “What would it be like,” I mused, “to do work which required wearing protective gear?” I drove a few more miles contemplating the various kinds of protection worn by different occupations.

I realized that (in the broadest sense) every kind of work requires tools. Not all of those tools come from a hardware store, of course, but whether it’s a cake pan, a computer, a chisel or a combine, we humans are aided by inventions brilliant and mundane.

That led me to a bigger revelation, one that hasn’t been talked about much. What occurred to me is that one of the biggest clues to discovering our passion may come via our tools. In fact, when we are doing work that we love, sitting down at our computer or picking up the phone to explore an opportunity  or grabbing our guitar sends the signal, “Let’s get going here.” Sometimes it’s even exhilerating.

So what’s your power tool? What is that thing that when you’re using it you feel most creative, most competent?  It might not be as obvious as you’d think.

Although Malcolm Gladwell seems to be incapable of producing a book that doesn’t become a bestseller, he recently told an interviewer that he hadn’t originally planned on a writing life. He said, “Writing was the thing I ended up doing by default, for the simple reason that it took me forever to realize writing could be a job. Jobs were things that were serious and daunting. Writing was fun.”

Then there’s Al who called me after he’d started his handyman business. He told me how he’d taken a job that he grew to dislike after graduating from college. To overcome his dissatisfaction, he began taking career assessment tests, working with career counselors, trying to figure out what his right livelihood was. “I took every test known to humankind and never got any clearer. As all this was going on,” Al said, “I remodeled my house three times.” 

“Hiding in plain sight, Al?” I asked. He laughed and agreed.

As you go about your work today, give thought to the tools that you use. Love them or hate them? Pay attention. They’re trying to tell you something. 

Like Al and Malcolm, you might be holding a big clue in your hands and not recognize it.