Everything2
Near Matches
Ignore Exact
Full Text
Everything2

Golden Hammer Syndrome

created by Stavr0

(idea) by Stavr0 (1.4 mon) (print)   ?   I like it! Fri Mar 15 2002 at 19:50:15

"When all you have is hammer, everything looks like a nail."

A problem afflicting many IT projects which are constrained within a set of standardized tools. Over-simplified statements like "All data storage will go on the SQL database server", "Only vendor-supported, closed source software will be used" and so on.
Vendors are the major perpetuators of this flawed idea, they sell their products under the promise that it can do anthing, will magically adapt to whatever customer sitting in front of them. This narrow-minded line of thinking prevents the discovery of creative, think-outside-of-the-box solutions who unfortunately become burdened by the limitations of the imposed 'tools of choice'.


(idea) by zeta10 (1.5 y) (print)   ?   I like it! Fri Mar 15 2002 at 21:01:53

This observation has been attributed to two individuals and given two names.
The most commonly credited is the behavioral psychologist Abraham Maslow. He had many seminal observations and theories, many of which are still respected and applied. His most famous was the "Hierarchy of Needs," which posited that until basic needs of food and shelter were filled, higher needs would not be pursued.

Anyway, when attributed to him, it's usually called, "Maslow's Maxim." The most precise quote would seem to be,
"If you only have a hammer then you treat everything like a nail."
But as in many oft-repeated saws, it is seen in many forms.

"Baruch's Observation" is the second "person" to whom this quote is attributed. I have seen the name given as "Bruce Lee Baruch," and as "Arthur Conan Doyle Baruch." However, this name may stem from Jeremiah Chapter 51 in the old testament, where Baruch is a messenger of God that helped relay God's message that he was destroying Babylon, which had been referred to previously as "God's Hammer."

For what it's worth, the converse:
Blithwapping:
Using anything BUT a hammer to hammer a nail into the wall, such as shoes, lamp bases, doorstops, etc.


printable version
chaos

If the only tool you have is a hammer, then everything looks like a nail If I Had a Hammer Thinking outside the box Sturgeon's Law
Abraham Maslow database smooth muscle The UnClub
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Converse Golden Hammer Tired of Waking Up Tired
drill movements Secrets piano Anthony Mattina
seminal Alka-Seltzer Information technology data storage
closed source vendor narrow-minded It
Y'know, if you log in, you can write something here, or contact authors directly on the site. Create a New User if you don't already have an account.
  Epicenter
Login
Password

password reminder
register

Everything2 Help

Cool Staff Picks
The best nodes of all time:
Comics Code Authority
French horn
That kinda Star Trek emergency power/battle stations lighting sorta thing
Space Ghost Coast to Coast
Do Orthodox Jewish lesbian couples practice "family purity"?
Schwarzschild radius
I made an old man cry
for the spunky new user
dialect-specific Chinese characters
Pizza dough
kung-fu grip
How to get rid of a telemarketer
Book of Very Common Prayer
New Writeups
Ouzo
Goodwill Hunting, Thrift Store(ies)(log)
Pandeism Fish
How conatus compels divine ketosis through a radical kenosis(essay)
cryforhelp
Major dictionaries of the world(review)
Glowing Fish
The Uncanny X-Men and the New Teen Titans(thing)
WolfKeeper
Launch loop(idea)
TendoKing
Katana(person)
Wuukiee
Highly ornamental cultivars of brambles still have as many thorns as their wild counterparts(idea)
TheDeadGuy
Editor Log: May 2008(log)
everyday j.Lo
pray do not molest them(thing)
ammie
Bands Who Take Their Names from Eighteenth-century English Poetry and Prose(idea)
shaogo
Under My Thumb(review)
ammie
Rock On(person)
The Custodian
The Dresden Files(thing)
Ouzo
PETA becomes you, a proposed future(fiction)
Ereneta
Stone Soup, Part Two(fiction)
E2 is a by-product of the existence of The Everything Development Company