This is a Lexicon entry: the mechanism, when it shows up, and the countermeasure. The full correction, with real-world cases and the audit prompt, hasn't been written yet.
Definition
A bias where an intellectual becomes so enamored with a single concept they popularise that they try to apply it to explain everything. Maslow's original formulation: "If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail."
When it shows up
When you have a framework, tool or approach that has worked well; when facing a new problem type.
Failure mode
Applying the wrong tool correctly and efficiently. Every problem looking like the thing your favourite framework addresses.
Countermeasure
Before applying a familiar framework, explicitly ask: "Is this actually the same problem type?" Force yourself to define the problem fresh before reaching for familiar tools.
Related concepts
Also connected in the mapThe Focusing Illusion·Functional Fixedness·The Procrustean Bed·Additive Bias·Domain Dependence·Overgeneralization·The Intellectual’s Treadmill
Origin
DiscoveredDerived from Maslow's "law of the instrument" (1966).
Also revealed
Entry #24 of 631 in The Lexicon · see the full Lexicon