What If We Repaired Minds Like We Repair Phones?

A case study from business that could help us advance mental health

The first time I met Kyle, I was blown away by his brain. Creative, sharp, endlessly curious. He sees the world differently—like a painter who knows every stroke is the right one, and somehow ends up with a masterpiece. But Kyle’s canvas isn’t paint—it’s tech.

In his humble, approachable way, Kyle has cracked open one of the most stubborn black boxes we carry around every day: our devices. You know the ones! Sometimes it’s glued to our palms, tells us where we are, where to go, and what we missed while we were sleeping. Sometimes we stare at it all day, working, talking to others, and doing our jobs. These devices play a pretty important role in our lives and yet, rarely do we have the knowledge to know how to fix them when they break.

I remember Kyle telling a story once about how the iPhone uses screws that didn’t even exist before the iPhone. Why did they do this? Well, mainly because Apple wanted to make it harder for regular people to open it up and make repairs. If you could replace your own battery, why would you need to buy a new phone from Apple?