What do geckos, Formula 1 pit stops, and physiotherapy have in common?
More than you’d think.
Scientists and engineers have been studying nature for centuries to solve problems humans haven’t quite figured out yet.
Take geckos, for example. They can climb walls and even walk across ceilings thanks to millions of tiny hair-like structures on their toes. Engineers have studied this mechanism to develop adhesives that can stick to surfaces without conventional glue.
Or spider silk. It’s remarkably strong for its weight, flexible, and lightweight. Researchers have been trying to recreate its properties for applications ranging from medical materials to advanced textiles.
There’s even a name for this approach: biomimicry.
Instead of inventing everything from scratch, we look at how nature solves a problem and ask:
Could we use something similar?
And this approach isn’t limited to engineering.
Take Formula 1, for example.
During a pit stop, an entire team works together to perform several tasks in a matter of seconds. Everyone knows their role, the equipment is ready, and potential problems are anticipated before the car even arrives.
Now, what does that have to do with healthcare?
Quite a lot, apparently.
At Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, doctors studied Formula 1 pit stops to improve how patients were transferred from cardiac surgery to intensive care.
They noticed similarities: multiple professionals working together, time pressure, complicated equipment, and little room for mistakes.
So they borrowed ideas from Formula 1 and aviation. Clear responsibilities, standardized procedures, safety checks, and better coordination.
And it worked.
A 2007 study reported fewer technical errors and fewer information omissions during patient handovers after implementing the new protocol.
They didn’t need to invent an entirely new approach. They needed to recognize that another field had already developed useful ways of solving a similar problem.
I studied biology before becoming a physiotherapist.
And one thing biology taught me was to look beyond the obvious.
You don’t necessarily find the solution to a problem by studying that problem harder. Sometimes you find it by looking at how something completely different works.
I see this in physiotherapy all the time.
For example, I can create a brilliant exercise program for a patient. Perfectly tailored, evidence-based, with just the right amount of progression.
There’s just one tiny problem.
The patient actually has to do it.
And suddenly, knowing which exercises to prescribe isn’t enough.
I need to understand why people do—or don’t do—certain things.
That’s where ideas from behavioral science, psychology, and even productivity become useful.
How do habits form? How can we make a behavior easier to repeat? What happens when motivation disappears?
Those aren’t exclusively physiotherapy questions.
But their answers can make me a better physiotherapist.
I’ve learned useful things from productivity books, dog training, sports, and plenty of other areas that have absolutely nothing to do with physiotherapy.
Training my dog Leto, for example, taught me quite a bit about communication.
When he doesn’t understand what I want, repeating the same command more loudly rarely helps.
Sometimes I need to change how I explain things.
Sound familiar?
The same principle has made me reconsider how I communicate with patients.
Of course, people aren’t dogs. And something that works in dog training doesn’t automatically work in physiotherapy.
That’s an important distinction.
An idea from another field can be a useful starting point without being proof that it works in yours.
You still need to question it, adapt it, and see whether it makes sense in the new context.
But if you never look beyond what you already know, you’ll never even discover those possibilities.
I think one of the most useful things we can do for our learning is to develop interests outside our own expertise.
Read a book that has nothing to do with your profession.
Talk to someone who approaches problems differently.
Explore a subject simply because you find it interesting.
Not because every hobby needs to make you more productive. Please, let’s not turn watching Spider-Man into another item on our self-improvement checklist.
But because the more perspectives you’re exposed to, the more opportunities you have to recognize connections.
Sometimes those connections help you explain something complicated through a simple analogy.
Sometimes they help you solve a problem.
And sometimes they just make you think, Huh, I never looked at it that way.
That’s valuable, too.
We spend a lot of time trying to become better at what we do by learning more about what we do.
Maybe occasionally, we should look somewhere else.
Because the next useful idea for your work might come from a completely unrelated book, a conversation, or even a dog who refuses to listen.
And yes, I’m speaking from experience.
🧪 Let’s Experiment
Sometimes the answer isn’t in your field. It’s in someone else’s.
We tend to approach problems using the knowledge and tools we’re already familiar with. But what if another field has already figured out something useful?
🎯 Try This:
Over the next week, pay attention to something you learn outside your usual interests or expertise.
It could come from a book, a conversation, a hobby, or even a movie.
When something catches your attention, ask:
What’s the principle behind this? And where else might it be useful?
Maybe you’ll discover a connection worth exploring. Maybe you’ll simply learn something interesting.
Both are perfectly fine.
🧠 Final Thought:
Sometimes solving a problem starts with asking a different question—not looking harder for the same answer.