THE SHORTCUT TRAP
There is a common tendency to use familiar tools to solve new problems. Maslow gracefully defined this attitude (also known as the Einstellung, German word) as the Law of the Instrument:
"If the only tool we have is a hammer, it's tempting to see every problem as a nail."
And he gave it its popular name: Maslow's Hammer Bias or the Golden Hammer.
This bias makes us repeat the same way of solving problems, without letting us see that other ways may be more appropriate to each new situation. This is called the shortcut trap. And this shortcut is always full of nails avoiding success.
Maslow’s Hammer Bias is a cognitive “predisposition” that we must be aware of and, like all biases, it is always an unconscious shortcut to answering. We tend to solve a problem or situation with the tool that is easier to handle, the one that is familiar to us, the one that we have mastered, and which makes us comfortable or trusting without feeling uncertainty.
But a hammer isn't the best tool when all you need are pliers. Our proven experience is not always the most adequate for dealing with new situations. Tied to the same tool or way of doing things, we cannot consider other more expedited and safer or successful options.
There are many examples of this bias in our field and let's talk about some of them here:
Hybrid Solar kits Single and 3phase built with standard GEL or AGM battery banks, when LIFEPO4 batteries now provide 15 times longer useful life, are fully recyclable, and take up much less space.
Power Quality Consultants still focus on high-tech UPS solutions for short backup times, but do not take into account that they still use the grid or diesel generators as the main AC power for their loads, which leads to more CO2 emissions, and being subject, which is even worse, to high and extreme variations in electricity costs from utilities.
These issues do not allow customers to be aware that using Hybrid Solar kits Single and 3phase can offer the same level of energy protection, during the entire working time of the connected loads (not just minutes) and minimize, at a high level, the use of the expensive grid utility and making the consumed $/W cost constant over time and even lower than the current one when you can also sell the solar energy produced to utilities via net-metering agreements when not fully used by the connected load or when the batteries are fully charged.
Taking advantage of our extensive solar and power quality expertise and also our innovative manufacturing and marketing method called Integration Coefficient IC will help companies avoid this dangerous Hammer bias, among others.
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