GUEST BLOG SERIES: Stop Loving the Problem by Leaning into Transformative Action
By: Paul Kazyak
Last time, we posted our thoughts about why a different take on our problems might be useful to help us move forward, and we identified some possible guidelines to consider as we work on finding solutions.
This time, we will be talking about actually starting down the path to finding solutions, including why and how to avoid “loving the problem”. This term was coined by Trista Harris and she describes it in detail in her book Future Good.
Why should we stop loving the problem we are trying to solve?
There are two primary reasons. First, the process of knowing everything there is to know about today’s complex problems is time-consuming and mentally draining. By expending this energy digging into what all is broken, we have less energy left to actually find solutions. And our Ancient Brain tendency to seek new and novel information does us no favors in this situation- instead it drives us into something of a frenzy to know all of the latest details about what is wrong. A great example is the beginning of the 2nd Trump administration- the lure of seeking new information about all of Trump’s unprecedented actions has literally paralyzed many thousands of people from taking action to move the needle in a different direction. By creating literal chaos, Trump effectively paralyzed his opposition because sorting out what to work on in a constantly changing environment is truly difficult and quite possibly impossible.
The second reason it is good to stop loving the problem is that the enormity of our problems tends to promote incremental rather non-linear thinking. In other words, we only tend to see further expansion of the fixes that have already been tried, as opposed to stepping back and taking a whole new, outside-the-box perspective. As a result, we tend to stay fixed in incremental mode rather than allow for the possibility of transformative action that totally rewrites the script.
So what is transformative action?
Here are some thoughts-
Creating something new, something that has never before existed
Radical, fundamental alteration
It’s systemic and revolutionary, not evolutionary
Beyond the common/current understanding
When the change is complete, the prior state is no longer recognizable.
A direct challenge to existing assumptions
Proactively creating the future- we don’t already know how to accomplish what we want to do.
Do truly transformative moments ever happen? Are there good examples?
Yes! Here are several examples of changes that very few thought possible at the time:
In response to a series of nonviolent actions by Gandhi and his followers – the British left India peacefully in 1947.
One month after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, United States industry began converting itself from producing peacetime goods to weapons and military equipment. It took only 90 days to make this truly massive transformation.
As a result of sanctions, boycotts, international pressure and internal change, South Africa elected Nelson Mandela as President in 1994. Mandela led the effort to establish a largely successful restorative justice effort through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and in doing so unified South Africa in a way that few thought possible.
In Columbia, former Bogata Mayor and failed 2010 Presidential candidate Antanas Mockus played a remarkable role in re-shaping governance in the country as well as bringing an end to the 50 year civil war with FARC. [If you have never heard of this story, we highly recommend checking out the highly inspiring documentary Life is Sacred on Netflix].
To help us get unstuck from loving the problem, Harris recommends redirecting our attention toward developing a picture of possible future states and from there, identifying what actions will promote or inhibit those futures. It turns out that in life, there rarely is a single predetermined future. Instead, there are many possible futures, and some are clearly more desirable than others. One way to monitor the future is to examine the cutting edge of what is happening in the present, including the use of Google Alert for topics/issues you care about.
To make sense of possible futures, we need to clarify and name what those futures are, and from there, identify the sort of actions and decisions that make a particular future more likely. By making time for the future while in the present (even as little as 5% of your work week), we can find highly valuable clues that will greatly inform our thinking. This is especially true if we involve a diverse group of people to collectively explore interpretations around what is likely to happen if thing X or thing Y happens. Using this proactive approach, you will be much further along than studying all of the details about the existing problem to death and then using what little energy you have left to flail at it.
What are the potential futures you see at the moment in our world?
Please take a moment to reflect on and then write down what things could look like. Then, take some time to reflect on what actions (or inactions) will tend to make each of these futures more or less likely. For example, if you see loss of democracy in the United States as a possibility, what actions would make that more or less likely to happen?
Harris also advocates for bringing together all of the collaborative partners, community members, board members, and other interested parties to envision what the future state would look like 30 to 50 years in the future when the problem is solved. By the way, this list would include the “others” that we talked about in our last post… The benefits to this approach are that:
The problem is no longer yours to solve using your chosen solutions. Rather, it is in front of everyone present and any sense of competition fades into a collective legacy and the highest hopes for what is possible. With this transformation, true collaboration becomes much easier!
When you have a long timeframe, you’re actually much more hopeful about what’s possible in the short term and otherwise unseen solutions surface from the enthusiasm.
The direction you need to go tends to become clear and a roadmap emerges, often resulting in success in 5-7 years, not 50…
In summary, redirecting our energy away from studying our problems in their present state and instead focusing on what the future(s) look like, what will influence them, and what the problem will look like after being solved 30-50 years from now will create more awareness and much more action more quickly. This approach will also provide a picture of what the payoff is of doing something different and create a powerful force for change because the future will feel much more comfortable than the present.
- PAUL KAZYAK
Sources
Harris, T. 2018. Future Good: How to use Futurism to Save the World. Publ. by Wise Ink. ASIN : B07JY73H7B.