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Reader question: When the boss told us not to look for silver bullets, what does he mean? My comments: Have you heard of the term “magic bullets”? Same thing. Your boss means to say you shouldn’t be looking for easy solutions to problems facing you at work. By saying you shouldn’t be looking for silver bullets, he probably wants to tell you there aren’t any – and so don’t waste your time looking for them. Instead, look for more realistic solutions that actually involve lots of wiping sweat off your eye brows, i.e. some honest hard work. In other words, no quick fixes. Silver bullets, you see, are bullets made of silver, a precious metal that ancient people believed to possess supernatural powers. According to legend, silver bullets are what killed werewolves, monsters that can change their form from man to wolf and back. It is a superstitious belief, of course. In reality, silver bullets are not more deadly than those made from other metals. At any rate, don’t take silver bullets literally. Instead, take them to mean magic bullets, a more understandable term or the magic wand, such as Harry Potter in J. K. Rowling’s novels wields at school. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, that is. In real life, we as muggles possess no such magical powers. Therefore, don’t bother trying to pull a rabbit out of your own hat, so to speak. | 
