7th of March

“It is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail.”

- Abraham Maslow (20th century American psychologist)

Maslow wrote on many topics, but the main thread of his work was about self-actualization, and he was very intrigued by what he called “Peak Experience”. He chose to study people who seemed to be high-functioning, self-actualized people, rather than what society would have called “sick” people at the time. Einstein and Lao Tzu were two of the Peak Experience  people he studied most thoroughly; I love that his subjects, while nearly all extraordinary in one way or another, were from vastly different disciplines. 

Maslow's 'Hierarchy of Needs Theory; is worth looking into by the way... It may seem obvious at this point in time, but there are some good reminders in there. 

One of the big things in this quote is the understanding that problems have a variety of solutions, and one needs a variety of tools to handle them. Treating everything as a nail, doesn't work particularly well. I don't think there are many who would argue this point. Everyone is given a set of tools to work with that are pretty basic, and largely determined by genes and environment. Obviously, some have tool boxes that are a little more stocked than others by the time they reach the age of adulthood. The key though, is that the tools are pretty much available to anyone who wants to work to acquire them. Those tools may come from all corners, from all manner of discipline, but one way or another you can find a way to add to the variety of tools you have access to. 

One big thing that Maslow found among Peak Experience people, was that they tended to be great problem solvers (uhhh... like Albert Einstein). They saw problems as something that needed to be solved, and set about doing that, without drama, in the most efficient way possible. Their efficiency, no doubt, was due in large part to their access to a wide range of possible tools/solutions. That, and they were probably in the habit of trying to solve things... the habit of trying is also something one can acquire. Just get in there and do it, and pay close attention to both your methods and their relative successes and to those that you find who solve problems well. 

If you have access a range of tools/solutions, you have a much greater likelihood of operating in the Peak Experience mode. 

the Keeper (word to think about/keep with me for a bit): 

"Peak” - n. 1.) the pointed top of a mountian. 2.) a mountain, especially one with a pointed top. 3.) the point of highest activity, quality, or achievement.

I hope to have access to a wide range of solutions, so that I can spend less time problem-solving, and more time doing the things that I choose to do, doing the things I am made to do.