“Stop!” Our shop’s trade-school intern froze in mid-swing. A 5-lb hammer clutched in his right hand, he was attempting to disassemble a spindle unit from a late model Mazda. More than likely, our newbie would have ruined the spindle in the process. I suggested he would be better served using a bearing puller. That was Monday.

“What are you doing?” Tuesday, I arrived at the shop greeted by the sight of our intern struggling to use the bearing puller on a king pin assembly. To no avail. I grabbed the 5-lb hammer and administered half a dozen strategically placed blows. The assembly came apart. “The right tool for the job, my friend.”

Although this is a simple anecdote, it is a valid object lesson to be applied to processes at large.

I have no clue where the idea that one quality process tool is better than another came from, but I believe it has fueled the fire of a “silver bullet” mentality that excludes many useful tools and too often boxes folks into, “When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”

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