It may sound like a cliché and I was warned by my colleagues that the title of this blog may be 'misinterpreted'.… but you really do need 'the right tool to do the job'.
With a considerable amount of involvement to varying degrees with all sorts of mechanical design and development projects and engineering activities, we've proven on so many an occasion that you really do need to use the right tool to do the job.
With some fascination, I often have to search through the tool catalogues and various brochures, not to mention quite often a great many websites to find particular tools for doing something properly. Usually the search relates directly to the fact that having a workshop capable of completing all sorts of activities, we often find that the range of tools we have cannot reliably complete an obscure or slightly more specialised task, which is not repeated regularly.
Make do and adapt I hear you say (possibly even shout at the screen) and yes, we often do. It is occasionally the case when we find ourselves having to make or modify a tool to get it to work, take it apart or even 'hopefully' put it back together to actually finish a job off.
Despite the willingness and ability to be inventive in overcoming something with what we have to hand, we so often wish we had the tool, especially when we know there is one to do the job. The tool in question would be sitting there nicely in the toolbox, clean, fully functioning and ready to go. I would reach in, pick it up, complete the task, put the tool back and 'hey presto' it's done and working, finished and perfect....I wish!
Actually the really clever part here, is knowing when to and how to use the tool or in fact, whether the tool is really right to use. Having all the tools in the world sitting there in their best condition ready to be used, is never going to be any good if you don't know how to use them. Sometimes, it might be appropriate for you to ask someone who knows how to use them to do the job for you.
Apply the tenacity to know when to ask makes the real difference between.....dare I say it.....'success and failure'.... addressing the conundrum of when to ask for help from someone who has the right tools and knows how to use them, who can therefore make sure you get the outcome you need.
