When all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail - Group Discussion

This proverb reflects that some people have a very narrow or a “close” thinking in their approach. So, if an individual only has a hammer as a tool, everything to him looks like a nail and he thinks he can fix everything with a hammer.

For:

-Such a perspective blocks our mind and we tend to overlook things.

-We tend to perceive things not the way they should be. For e.g. a dermatologist if sees a scar on someone’s face will always suggest him to visit his clinic. The doctor wouldn’t think that the person would care less about the scar.

-With limited set of ideas and or tools, we tend to apply them inappropriately.

-An impression is passed to the viewer that you are not innovative and cannot think “out of the box”.

-By being “narrow” in your approach, you tend to become biased and judgmental. For e.g. if we show a picture of a group of needy people, most people would talk about them as “beggars”, “poor” etc. Barely would you see people talking about “poverty” and methods to eradicate it.

Against:

-At times, hammer is exactly what we need to fix a problem. This means that mostly, we can use the same set of ideas to approach a problem.

-Similar situations can only be tackled with the same approach. We apply a solution in a situation, learn lessons and then use the solution wisely next time.

Conclusion:

It is always good to hear people out and understand rather than looking forward to apply a solution. We shouldn’t jump to conclusions. There is no harm in applying the same ideology, solutions to a given problem as long as we learn our lessons and not repeat the same mistakes.