Do You Ask The People Who Do The Job?

I was in the car with my brother listening to him talk about a particular project and how if he had a particular tool he'd do the work much more efficiently - quicker! He was saying how his boss (the owner - it's a small business) bought a specific tool supposedly to do THIS job without asking him. It didn't help him.

How often do we do something (as owners) without asking the person who actually does the work? All the time? Some of the time?

Could we change that? Then let's!