Six years ago, I became obsessed with an ancient tool that I just couldn't get to work.
In a race to accomplish various challenges with hundreds of other people, one of the tasks was to pop a balloon with a bullwhip.
I loved Indiana Jones growing up (original trilogy only...), so I figured my raw skill and observation would be enough. How hard could it be?
Very hard.
I spent so much time on that station, trying different, random ways to fling the whip at the balloon on the post.
It was scary—whips feel like they have their own will, because the tiniest motion can send everything flailing. It was frustrating.
After the race, I left with a determination to figure out the whip.
Tools
Most technology eventually is manifested in the form of tools. The more we learn, the more problems we encounter, the more deficits our human body has for the task at hand, the more we lean on or create tools.
The better the tool, the easier we can accomplish the task...mostly.
The catch is that tools don't magically make you better at using the tool or even solving the problem the tool is made for.
Some tools require training, special safety gear, or even deep expertise just to use. The whip is a dangerous tool that can hurt others near the whip and the one holding the whip.
If you don't know what you're doing, you can seriously hurt yourself.
At an Indiana Jones themed party, I was asked to bring my whip and teach people who wanted to try. Most people got the hang of it pretty fast when they followed my cues on the technique.
There was one person who didn't want to listen to my coaching.
He tried so hard to demonstrate his strength that he ended up with huge welts all over his back, because he refused to consider technique (and refused to stop injuring himself over and over again). He was literally whipping himself.
Some problems require intricate, careful use of the tool. For example, once I put in the time to learn to crack the whip, I still couldn't pop balloons with it consistently.
That was still a huge improvement over the "never" result I had gotten in that original race, but it's not enough to say I have mastered the skill.
After spending lots of time with the tool, learning as much as I can about technique and the mechanics, I have been able to slice through a chicken egg with my whip a few times now:
Tool Building
It's nice to find a tool to solve a problem. It's enthralling to build a tool to solve a problem.
Tool-building is the skill I see becoming ever more relevant and important at work and in digital spaces.
In order to build a tool to solve a problem, you need two things:
- Deep knowledge of the problem
- The skills to build the tool
Understanding the problem is the most important part. A lot of problems effectively disappear once you know, truly, what they are. The ones that stick around are the problems you probably need tools to solve.
The skills you'll need to build tools scale with the complexity of the problem you're solving. Don't dismay, though! Coding, automation, and other forms of tool-building is only getting easier and more accessible.
AI and no-code tools are a huge help in this process, which is why we need to divert our focus back to the first step: gaining deep knowledge of the problem.
Without being able to describe the problem—where it comes from, how to recognize it, what it impacts, whether/how it changes, when it appears—creating tools prematurely will be insufficient at best.
Fallacy
One word of caution is that technically, tools require some kind of wisdom. How and when to use the tools you have. Not just how to operate the tool, but how the tool is applied.
Especially digital tools can mask what the tool is doing or how it impacts you and others. AI is a great example. We can't know how it was trained, on what sources, and whether the way we use AI can be exploited or harmful.
Not only that, it's tempting to stop learning the basics when you can just shortcut with an AI tool that will give you an average result.
I suppose the only way to attack these issues is by developing the wisdom to intentionally learn the basics, learn the tool, and learn about the problems you'll use the tool to solve.
When do you arrive at wisdom? The wise might say, "Never."
It's a process you have to commit to simply because it's the right thing to do, not because you'll eventually "get there."
Cyborg
Tools can only help you so much. The best tool doesn't create the best outcome, and an expert can create something great with the worst tools.
The point is that you continue to exercise the skills of restraint, intention, and exploration.
We need to develop our technical skills more deeply if we want to use technical tools. We need to develop discipline and restraint when we want to use powerful tools.
Tool building is innate. It's a way to package up knowledge gained from encountering problems and finding effective ways to solve them.
Hopefully, we're all tool-builders, it's the only way to keep up in this world. Let's just make sure we are as diligent at wisely applying our tools as we are about creating or gathering tools.
If you're interested in tool building, here are some ideas or guides for where you can explore:
- Automate the Boring Stuff with Python—this is the book that taught me python and changed the trajectory of my life and career. Highly recommended—and it's free.
- [Work Automation Playlist]—a range of easy to intermediate ideas for tools or techniques you can use to help with work from my tutorial channel.
- No-code tools like Zapier and If This Then That (IFTTT) can help you create workflows or connections between apps you already have and use. (Not sponsored, just have personally used these and was happy with the results)
- Any video from creator, Jeff Su, is going to have an actionable application to your work. Another highly recommended one!