Oct 24, 2011
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Make Tools and Make the World a Better Place
Good tools tend to sell well. They inspire creators, enable tinkerers and fill Sunday’s with the promise of accomplishment.
One of the reason’s tools sell well is that they are a unique category of goods. Tools can have currency-like characteristics. Their value is in the eye of the beholder. Every goal is different. Everybody uses a tool differently.
Tools are boundary objects between the present and future. They represent a promise. Tools open us to the realm of improvement. With the right tool, we can achieve our goals.
If you want to create something people will buy, think about creating a tool. If you want to gain sponsorship for a new project, think about a project that will result in an expanded capability for the sponsoring organization. Every person or organization has a dream. Create a tool that will help them realize it.
The more flexible a tool, the easier to use and therefore the more easily we can see ourselves using it to achieve our goals, the better the tool will sell.
In a tip of the hat to Steve Jobs, a consummate tool maker, dream big and help others dream big. By building the right tools, tools that help others build tools, we create a cycle of societal enablement for innovation and attaining big dreams.
