Law of the Instrument

Life’s most dangerous psychological trap is the Law of the Instrument.

Psychologist Abraham Maslow once wrote “If the only tool you have is a hammer, it is tempting to treat everything as if it were a nail.”

When you become comfortable with a certain tool, you start applying it everywhere, even when it doesn't fit.

In sales we fall into the same trap. We cling to the strategy that once worked, even as the market changes. In our client relationships, we keep applying the same approach, even when the dynamics evolve.

It happens because our tools become entangled with our identities. The tools that once empowered begin to confine.

Am I using the right tool, or just the familiar one?