Choosing the right tool for a project can sometimes be easy. For example, when driving a nail, the obvious choice would be a hammer, or when splitting some wood, a saw would be the best tool in the box. Sometimes we know the tools we need but don't have them at our disposal, like the time my father-in-law asked me to help him paint a room. What he failed to mention was he only had two small four-inch brushes—not...