August 19, 2025
by Stephen T. Messenger
Last week, I found myself in a challenging situation. At my parents’ house, a swarm of yellow jackets nested in the chimney. Hundreds were outside, and a few dozen started finding their way inside. We tried everything from plugging holes, setting up bug zappers, spraying Raid, and swatting with fly swatters to name a few, but they kept coming. It felt like an immovable rock standing in our way.
Then I remembered Archimedes. Sometimes we face problems that are brutal to solve. No matter how hard we push or try, the rock doesn’t budge. Archimedes solved his seemingly immovable object conundrum through leverage. The key to many of our problems is not to push harder, but to find the right lever to solve our issue.
Have We Tried a Fulcrum?
Archimedes was a Greek mathematician who lived in Syracuse, Sicily from 287-212 B.C. His work set the stage for geometry and physics, and he is known for discovering the sphere, cylinder, the foundations of pi, and the principles of buoyancy.
He established the law of the lever, a fundamental principle of physics, where a small force can move a large object by using a lever with the proper spacing of a fulcrum. Known as the Archimedes Lever, he famously said, “Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.”
In this principle of leverage, a person can use a lever by wedging one end under the object to be moved. They then place a fulcrum, or balancing point underneath, and provide force. The key is to know the right size and placement of both the lever and the fulcrum. In doing so, we have the ability to maximize our force against an object by using the right tools that are the right size (lever) and positioning them accordingly (fulcrum).
He’s right. We can harness immense power through strategic positioning and proper equipment. There are many problems that seem immovable, but when we leverage the right tools in the right positions, problems become more solvable.
Four Types of Levers
When we reach the point where our problem becomes more than we can handle, it’s time to lengthen the lever and move the fulcrum to a more favorable position. We can do that through people, technology, money, and expertise.
People. An ancient Chinese proverb says, “When everyone adds fuel, the flames rise high.” The English version is, “Many hands make light work,” a phrase used in the Civil War to raise support for the military, but I learned it from Nicolas Cage in Con Air. Or the Bible puts it as, “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor.”
However, we say it, getting assistance from others should be our default position when in need. Honestly, people love being asked to help and feel useful. To counter the yellow jackets, we equipped some family members with fly swatters and went after it. More people often equal more leverage.
Technology. In today’s technology advancing society, there continues to be more and better tools that can help us. If we need to move something heavy, why not use a truck instead of our brute strength. If we need to brainstorm a solution, why not let ChatGPT take a quick stab at it. And as we were fighting swarming yellow jackets, we set up the electric bug zapper up to do some of the dirty work for us.
Archimedes used the lever and fulcrum. Our levers today are things like: YouTube solutions instead of experimenting, WebMD instead of wondering, and data analytics instead of guessing. Our organizations probably have tools available to help solve whatever we’re facing. We don’t always need to rely on them, but sometimes we should.
Money. Money can fix some things but not everything. For example, it can’t fix relationships, marriages, health, exercising, education, or happiness. But it can help solve many problems when we buy the right things. Often we’re grasping at straws to solve a problem with what we have on hand. If we bought the right equipment, we’d have a much better shot. Our wasp spray ran out, the electric zapper broke, and we were plugging access holes in the brick with painter’s tape.
Thirty dollars and a trip to the store could have solved these issues. Instead, we fought with what we had and lost. Or we could have used that money to hire a professional.
Expertise. When our skills and knowledge are simply not enough, we should leverage experts to fight our battles. At work, there are specialized departments to eliminate our frustrations in IT, finance, help desks, payroll, human resources, supply, and many others. Use the subject matter expert as a fulcrum instead of figuring it out on our own. Call them. The company pays them for a reason.
Ultimately, my dad hired an exterminator who did in 30 minutes what we spent hours on. In this case, they did what more people, technology, and money couldn’t. Put the right levers and fulcrums in place and solve the problem.
Gain an Asymmetric Advantage
So often I think I can make progress by brute force or relentless willpower. Perhaps that’s true. But it’s so much easier to use the tools and expertise around us to create an asymmetric advantage.
Archimedes had it right. A small force can move a large weight when using the proper tools correctly and strategically aligned in the right place. When we have that in position, a tiny force can move mountains.
Click here to sign up for The Maximum Standard’s weekly email where you’ll get a leadership vignette delivered for free every Tuesday morning!
We’re always looking for authors. We coach first time authors (and anyone) through the writing process if you need a little help. It’s worth taking the first step and showing interest.
This website is a personal blog and all writings, podcasts, opinions, and posts are the authors’ own and do not represent the views of the United States Army nor any other organization. Podcast music credit in this audio file is to: “Alex Productions – Legends” is under a Creative Commons license (CC BY 3.0). / @alexproductionsnocopyright
The Maximum Standard 