Anyway, I actually wrote a column in KMWorld magazine for almost five years called "Personal Toolkit." The idea was that if knowledge workers can be individually more productive, they are in better shape for collaboration and the enterprise reaps the rewards. I think that tool fits into the equation in a number of complex and cultural ways, so I thought I’d mention them here and see what you think:

1. Think about tools and technologies as different concepts. Technologies are promises, not results. Technologies are of, by and for the corporation--symbols of your dependence and restriction. Their functionality is limited by compromises and constraints. At best, technologies are infrastructures, while tools are defined by use.
2. Think about the roles tools play in terms of identity in crafts. Nardi demonstrates that it’s the personal relationships that get work done. I think its personal tools that tend to get work done—especially the personal tools that help us collaborate more effectively. Tools empower a knowledge worker; encouraging a sense of ownership and identity in a craft community; and responsibility and pride in mastering those tools to produce quality workmanship.
3. Think about which tools add value. Why do the limited, quirky and flawed technologies such as email, html and blogs become the most used tools? Exponential adoption often comes down to irrational factors such as addiction and codependence. When technologies are imperfect but hackable, users who customize them end up excusing and defending their flaws. (Look at any iPhone owner.)
4. Think about the balance between too few and too many tools. Watch any man or woman practicing a craft such as a mechanic, carpenter or chef. In their toolbox, they will always have a selection of tools to do the job. But there is a cost to each tool they master, and a limit to how many they can master. So once a tool becomes an extension of the hand (or mind) they will stretch its utility in ways that were never intended.