Changing the Conversation
Posted by Jeff Wiedner on Tuesday, October 27, 2009
I read an interesting article recently that talked about how problem solving doesn’t solve problems. The article mentioned that what we call problem solving is really just focusing on the symptoms. Since we’re only working on the symptoms, we never really fix the bigger problem.
One quote that stood out for me was:
By definition, problem-solving is reactive. As we move forward in those reactive plans, new circumstances arise for which we did not plan. We then react to those circumstances, often entirely scrapping the old plans to fit this new information.
This reactive approach creates a snowball effect. We’re so busy working on a series of symptoms that we can’t move beyond it. It’s hard to move away from this approach because we see smaller successes. But in the end, we can hope for using this approach is to reach an “almost there” fix.
As advocates, we talk about the problem of hunger a lot. We have great stats that we share and in general, people “get” the idea that hunger is wrong. When we move this conversation online, we tend to talk to each other. As each group sees incremental success, we’re tempted to believe that we’ve found the solution. Eventually, we start to hear similar ideas to the point where it’s difficult to tell groups apart. We build up inertia and it’s difficult to move from this approach. It’s a crowded field with a lot of good being done, but we’re only creeping towards the goal line.
Having the same conversations with the same statistics and messaging will only get us so far. We need to be willing to take on new ideas and have bolder conversations.
So how do we move this conversation beyond the ordinary? How do we move beyond talking about the problem of hunger and getting to really building together a vision of where we could be? How do we find new ideas that will make dramatic, positive change and move beyond fixing problems to a world without hunger?
I don’t think any one group has the answers. These are questions that I hope we can figure out together.
What do you think?
October 27, 2009 | | Tags: change, problem-solving, social media
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