Citation (IEEE): K. E. Weick, “Drop Your Tools: An Allegory for Organizational Studies,” Administrative Science Quarterly, vol. 41, no. 2, pp. 301–313, 1996. doi: 10.2307/2393722.
What it argues
Weick uses wildland fires in which firefighters died, still carrying heavy tools they had been told to drop, as an allegory for organizations and scholars. He examines why people cling to familiar tools under threat: the tools are bound up with identity, competence and control, and dropping them can feel like admitting failure. He argues that adaptability depends on being able to let go.