A drunk man loses his house keys and is searching for them under a street lamp far from his home. When asked where he lost them, he replies outside his front door, but he is searching here because this is where there is light. The moral is that people often look for solutions in familiar places, even when the problem is elsewhere, instead of thinking more broadly about where the real issue lies.

1. Easy way out usually leads back in……
A passerby encounters a drunk on his hands and knees under a street
lamp.
[Man] Can I help you?
[Drunk Man] Oh sure
[Man] What are you looking for?
[Drunk Man] I lost my house keys
[Man] Where did you drop them?
[Drunk Man] Outside my front door
[Man] Then why are you looking for them here…
[Drunk Man] Well…there is no light by my doorway
Morale of the story
We all find comfort applying familiar solutions to our problems, sticking
to what we know best!
After all, if solutions were easy to see or obvious to everyone, it probably
would have been found and implemented. Pushing harder and harder on
familiar solutions, while fundamental problems persist or worsen, is a big
indicator of nonsystemic thinking.
- What we need here is a bigger hammer syndrome
Reference: The laws of fifth discipline, pg 61, Peter M Senge