Problems in Perspective: Defining the Issue

Our most recent task in my innovation course was examining our chosen problem areas looking at different aspects of how our problem could be viewed. Einstein was quoted as having said that if he had one hour to save the world, he would spend 55 minutes defining the problem and 5 minutes solving it. What he meant is that only by having a clear understanding of our problem can we hope to find a solution. So, in an effort to get a more well-rounded perspective of our problems, we used 9 strategies to write out 27 different versions of our problem statement.

My initial problem statement was that “Low-income youth struggle from a lack of nutrition.” Below, I have included the 9 strategies, along with their “how” and “why”, as well as some insight I felt I gained:

-??????Rephrase the Problem: Write out the problem statement differently, maybe by substituting words, changing sentence structure, and changing connotation. For me, this strategy seemed unhelpful at face-value, but it was rather difficult to think of how to change a statement to have a different focus. However, using the statement “Nutrition is of poor quality among poor children” changes the focus of the statement to the financial aspect, rather than the suffering aspect. Rephrasing for me turned into specifying which part of the issue I wanted to tackle.

-??????Expose and Challenge Assumptions: identify what is assumed in your statement and ask if it’s true. In my statement, I assume that nutrition is a cause in the hardships of low-income families. Challenging an assumption like that forces me to look outside of my problem area to examine the effects of external factors on the money-food relationship.

-??????Chunking Up: Look at a big picture version of the problem. The statement “across the world, low-income children are dealing with poor nutrition” forces me to look at global trends rather than local ones, helping me to identify previously unseen factors that may not be evident in certain cultures. Having a wide view of the problem can also help objectivity.

-??????Chunking Down: Look at the specific parts of the problem. In this section, I changed the problem to be more specific, looking at the parts of the lives of youth, such as their school lunches. This helped me to learn where some important specific targets may be in the solution process.

-??????Find Multiple Perspectives: Consider the viewpoints of different individuals/roles. I looked at a politician’s perspective and a teacher’s perspective, looking at potential avenues for a solution in different arenas, like an education plan or government program. This was good for giving me a taste of what a solution might focus on, while not offering any solutions yet.

-??????Use Effective Language Constructs: Open up the language of your statement. Rather than viewing my problem as an indictment or imperative, I viewed it as an open-ended question. This lent some hope to the statement, and helped me to stop thinking for the one, perfect solution, which is highly unlikely.

-??????Make it Engaging: Use language that encourages involvement. This was a helpful strategy for getting me to consider how to work with the psychology aspect. Part of the reason healthy choices aren’t being made is the mindset of the parties involved, so viewing the problem as a motivator rather than a burden would be crucial to any kind of development of solutions.

-??????Reverse the Problem: Turn the problem on its head – what would make the problem worse? This was perhaps the most helpful strategy for me, as it forced me to take a hard look at the obstacles to the problem, and see how those obstacles loom over the situation, such as a lack of resources or convenience. It was also whiplash after the previous strategy, adding hope and then looking at why it’s hard to find hope in the problem.

-??????Gather Facts: Any good problem needs researched. This strategy, like the “Make it Engaging” strategy, puts emphasis on the psychology of my problem, examining the motives of the families that are struggling, and also allowed me to get a glimpse into the workings of school lunches, not a topic I’d really examined before.

While I was initially apprehensive about this assignment, it ended up being instrumental in helping me be intentional in my search, and also viewing my problem as less of a burden and more of a challenge to be conquered. My chosen problem area, just like any other problem area, must be met with hope, enthusiasm, and determination if it is to be conquered, and this assignment really helped give me hope in its insights into my “wicked problem.”

My final rewrite reads: "Empowering underprivileged kids and families to eat healthy!"

References

Passuello, L. (2011, August 8). Einstein's secret to amazing problem solving (and 10 specific ways you can use it). Litemind. Retrieved December 9, 2022, from https://litemind.com/problem-definition/