Guest blog by Sharonne Navas
In a world of high speed wars, high speed internet, and high speed dating — can we slow down to solve world problems?
I was trained to problem solve in under five minutes. Math club, speed chess, wordle — the idea of speeding through a problem towards the solution was simply the way we do things.
But what happens when you slow down time and process enough to get to the root problem of a system or institution, a problem that you are trying to solve and not just throwing solution spaghetti onto the world map?
I entered the world of Harvard ready to prove that I had solutions to problems only I could see. Ready to show the brilliance of my tiny mind. Only to be told to slow down.
Answer five why’s, and embrace iteration. The repetitive process of analysis, introspection, and research — with the end goal of finding the root cause, not just stare at our collective societal bellybuttons.
Embrace going back to the problem time and time again, asking what are the reasons that the problem exists, and creating fishbones — which I thought was Harvard speak for some elaborate diagram only to find out it literally is a diagram that looks like a fish skeleton with the problem at the head and the barriers as the fishbones — only to find myself asking why and why and why until I was sure that I knew that my problem was the PROBLEM and not my own implicit solution phrase like the problem.
And not only was I supposed to ask “why?” multiple times, I was supposed to get my colleagues, legislators, decision-makers, and staff to agree to do this with me.
AND — I remember hearing that I didn’t have to buy the whole thing, just rent it for a minute. “I’m not asking you to buy this idea. Just rent it for a minute. Try it on, see what works for you and make small changes to fit your needs.”
I can do that. So I tried. I got my colleagues together to ask “What is the problem with public education in WA State?” — 61 people on the Zoom call and 135 different answers. Some were problems. Others were perceived problems that were actually implicit biases and cynicism of the government; exhaustion of the promises from the government disguised as utter failures of the public education system.
So we tried again two weeks later.
“What is the problem in public education — and to whom should it matter?” Aha — we still got 135 different answers but now the second part got to the who of the problem. We were beginning to map out our assets, people who put up hurdles, and people in positions of authority. And then the natural next question — who has relationships with these folx and who is the trusted messenger?
We were making progress. Weeks of hard discussions, disagreements, and going back to the root causes — of this big problem, what is the low hanging fruit we can tackle first?
“Well, we really don’t know the data and how much we spend on public education.” Perfect. Let’s dig into the publicly available data and write a brown-paper answering that question — the distribution list including everyone in our asset/authority map.
“Does the public even know that this is a problem?” Maybe, maybe not. Let’s make an inclusive communications plan that includes radio, print, and social media in the top 40% of languages spoken in WA State and let’s have trusted messengers deliver that to our communities.
We suddenly had a plan that we were not only renting, but we had an option to buy. We went back to the fishbone time and time again until we developed a wall sized whalebone. Issues became sequences of smaller problems that seemed a lot easier to tackle. And those larger sequences we broke down until they were bite sized and we could identify two people or organizations that could take them on. We finally had a coalition of 91 organizations taking on bite size problems that we could solve through legislation, administrative fixes, or changes in the Revised Codes of WA that dictate the laws in our state.
The key to this new work is iteration. The repetitive process of going back to the visual sequences that make you question if you’ve dug deep enough into your problem to understand the root causes. WHY is one of the most important questions you’ll ask through this process. The how then comes later.
Why. Why? WHY? WhY? wHY?? Only then do you realize that the root cause is more deeply entrenched in policy and implementation than the narrative we all have about the problem.
Public education isn’t just about getting more teachers in the classroom. It is more than just getting more staples in the stapler. There are several concrete root causes coexist in a very very complex ecosystem of problems, band-aid policy solutions, and institutionalized staff that might not be on the same page with you and you have to find a way to work around them.
We all don’t agree and that’s fine. Some people think of tried and true solutions to other issues and try to mold the problem to fit those solutions — like when you’re asked to move a piece of paper from one side of the room to another and you make a paper airplane.
Yet others see the problem as an opportunity to try things outside the box. To try solutions that we have been told wouldn’t work, not because they aren’t possible, but because no one has ever tried it before or it doesn’t stand up to best practices — like when you’re asked to move a piece of paper from one side of the room to another and you make a paper ball and chuck it.
PDIA asks that you put aside all desire to fix a problem immediately. It asks that you take a moment and ask if the problem is actually the problem or is it the symptom to a wound left to fester. Root causes are difficult to conceptualize because they can seem so big and untenable. We’ve seen amazing social movements start and get to mobilization because someone took the time to distinguish between the wound and the symptom.
Take the time. Ask the why’s of it all. Draw the fishbone. Take up wall space. Ask the why’s again. Get more input and find your people that will relay with you towards those solutions.
This is a blog series written by the alumni of the Implementing Public Policy Executive Education Program at the Harvard Kennedy School. Participants successfully completed this 6-month online learning course in December 2022. These are their learning journey stories.