There are names “tools” many different contexts; there are tools for physical work, tools for mental work, for office work, for technical work, and for teamwork. There are so many things in our lives called “tools” that damaging ideas sometimes sneak in wearing a tool-shaped trenchcoat.
To be a real tool, it must accomplish one of these three transformations:
- Transform work that required many people into work that requires fewer. These are tools like a skid steer (replacing a team of hand-shovelers), or a design system (reducing the custom per-feature design load). In military contexts this kind of tool is called a “force multiplier” — if what required a force of 10 people now only requires 5, the tool is a 2x force multiplier.
- Transform hard work for one person into easy work for one person. These are tools like a chainsaw, or a targeted single-use library. They’re not quite force multipliers, because a task can never use half a person; but a hard task leaves you exhausted, and an easy task leaves you ready for more.
- Transform impossible work into possible work. These are tools like calculus, a welder, or Unreal Engine. Before Leibniz and Newton invented calculus, there were problems which were impossible to solve; now they can be solved by a motivated high schooler.
Every one of these tools requires initial expense, education, and ongoing maintenance; they are worth the cost because they are tools by one of the above three definitions. Things that look and sound like tools but don’t actually make hard work easier are not tools, they’re mistakes. Don’t introduce complications to your team unless they’re actually tools.