*Typing*

Maslow's Hammer is a cognitive bias caused by an over-reliance on a single, familiar tool. In his own words, "If the only tool you have is a hammer, it is tempting to treat everything as if it were a nail."

To become a better problem solver, you must add a few more tools to the tool belt. Once this tool belt becomes too cumbersome to mule around, you must then invest in a toolbox and fill it.

This doesn't mean you shouldn't specialize in the use of any one give tool. There are, after all, great advantages in becoming the best in the world at a very specific trade. However, it does mean you should gain a working knowledge of many different tools.

K.S. Lashley was a psychologist famous for running a slightly inhumane experiment. He taught a bunch of rats how to visually navigate a maze. This learned habit involved a small area in the very back of the brain called the occipital lobe. Lashley then surgically removed this part of the brain and attempted to reteach the rats how to navigate the same maze. To his astonishment, the rats learned how to navigate the maze in the same number of minutes by using other parts of the brain. This led Lashley to believe that memories aren't strictly stored in a single part of the brain but rather across the brain. Fascinating.

Survival of the fittest doesn't just mean the fittest. It means the most variant; the most different. This is a mistake most of us make when we think of Darwin. We assume the biggest, fastest and strongest species prevail. But, this isn't the case. It's the species that are the most variant and, in turn, adaptable.

Take the Mammoth for example. They thrived during the most recent ice age because they were perfectly equipped for it. They were practically giant winter coats. They had 20 inches of hair covering up an inch of thick undercoat covering up 3 inches of well-insulated blubber.

However, after the world warmed up and humans started hunting Mammoths with sharpened sticks, these slow-moving winter coats soon went extinct. Mammoths were all the same. Because of this sameness, they collectively thrived when the conditions were right. But, as soon as the conditions changed, they started dropping like flies.

Darwin was a huge proponent of variance and believed homogeneity to be a death sentence. If Mammoths had variants within their species that were lighter, more skittish and agile, they might have adapted to the changing circumstances. These variants would have survived, mated and produced more Mammoths with these same variations.

So, how does this apply to us? Homogeneity is more comfortable than variance. Because of this, we have to actively work to fight against it. Both within ourselves and our communities. It's very dangerous to create environments where everyone acts the same, looks the same and talks the same. Because we approach new, highly diverse problems with the same old solutions.

Dandelions are weeds. They're also food; they can be eaten in salads or sautéed with a bit of garlic, onion and butter. Dandelions are weeds. They're also an ancient diuretic, used to cleanse the body of toxins and excess fluid. Dandelions are weeds. They're also the beginnings of a delicious concoction called Dandelion Wine. Dandelions are weeds. They're also an invaluable source of nectar for bumblebees.

The Dandelion Principle is a beautiful reminder that brilliance is often hiding in the most unlikely of places. It's a gentle nudge to never write anyone off as being incapable or untalented but to instead search for their untapped capability and talent hiding right in plain sight.

Boyle's Law says that when volume decreases, pressure increases. Fill a balloon with air, knot it off and then give it a squeeze. Eventually, the balloon with explode. That's Boyle's Law in action. Volume decreases. Pressure increases. Pop!

This truth stretches beyond the realms of physics and chemistry. It also can be applied to our work. If you want to increase the pressure surrounding a specific project, you must decrease the volume of time allotted for its completion.

On the contrary, if you want to decrease the pressure surrounding a specific project, you must increase the volume of time allotted for its completion.

Different projects call for different degrees of pressure. And so setting deadlines become something of a science.