Problems and solutions
Today we watched presentations from our fellow classmates. One of the problems I shared was based on work I had done prior to entering the program. It focused on the 'system of care' children with autism and other developmental disorders are a part of, and the gap that exists between care provided in the clinic and at home.
What I found interesting about the presentations was the diversity of problems identified and approaches to solutions. For all the 50+ examples created, I can’t think of two that were especially similar.
This brought to mind how we have the collective capacity to share observations, insights, problems and approaches we believe could be worth exploring. In fact, I think we could go further collectively. As I was watching these presentations, I was imagining a process in which we all identified one or two ‘problems’ or areas of need, along with the communities affected, and then opened up the discussion for further questions about both of these major categories before moving on to brainstorming different approaches that could be taken. Collectively, I’m sure we would share perspectives that led to angles that each of us as individuals may not have thought of.
I also think that there is something inherently tricky about jumping to solutions early on. We tend to get our solutions entangled with our hopes of success. This surely leads to certain biases. I have definitely experienced this first hand with ideas of my own–trying to press forward with solutions and as a result have missed angles that could have been far more interesting and effective.
It further brings to mind ideas about encouraging the sharing of problems, needs, insights gained and things of that sort - prior to sharing approaches to ‘solutions’. By understanding how to effectively share what we could essentially talk about as the framework of a problem, we may be able to collaborate better, potentially at scale.
Are there ways that this type of insight/problem sharing is being done? Do platforms exist?