We can often feel like a giant hammer looking for a nail.

In other words, we can get stuck looking at a problem in only one way to the detriment of many other solutions available… which would probably work better… and might be simpler.

I personally have an issue finding a desk that is ergonomic to my out-of-whack body proportions. My legs compose 70% of my height, my torso is short and my arms are super long. When I sit in a chair, I almost disappear (my height is just shy of 5’10). 

Desk chairs don’t come up high enough to meet the standard desk height where my arms can comfortably work at it. This resulted in my foray into standing desks (which I still use for my classroom after getting rid of my teacher’s desk), which almost seemed to do the trick… after many DIY projects to make them accordingly.

I was just about ready to cut the legs from my writing desk at home when my wife finally handed me the solution: get a stool that sits higher than a desk chair. Stools for drafting desks, for instance, are perfect.

While this may be such a specific and meaningless example, it illustrates that solutions can be simple if we’re willing to look at the problem in a different way.

The question isn’t whether the solution will work, but rather whether we’re open enough to try.

Addendum: simple doesn’t necessarily equate to easy. Keeping something simple is actually incredibly hard.