The famous psychologist Abraham Maslow once said, “He that is good with a hammer tends to think everything is a nail”.

Thus, our legislatures and regulatory bodies, because they only have the ability to write laws, seem to think that laws can solve every problem. Too often, they overlook another physician’s mandate, “First do no harm.” Too often, in their desire to help they end up causing harm.

I was meditating on this fact during this past week as I helped defend our corporate computer systems from damage caused by the law that changed the start and stop times for Daily Savings Time. For some marginal good, that law has placed many computer systems around the world at risk and caused thousands of hours to be spent defending against the damage this “minor change” could cause.

I really wish the Senate, Congress and all regulatory agencies looked a lot more carefully at the cost of the laws and regulations they develop. No matter how GOOD the purpose is behind a law or regulation, the primary mandate should always be, “First do no harm”.