At some point in life you might be involved with a community project like volunteering or a work charity day. Good problem solving skills can help build community spirit in all kinds of situations!
Communities can have problems, just like people. And with any problem, you need to understand what it is and what could be causing it before you try to fix it.
Some jobs, like being a town planner, social worker or government official, have a big focus on thinking about how to help improve community problems. Even if it’s not your job, you’ll still come across ‘people’ problems in life and work. Are you fed up with too much litter in your neighbourhood? Are you caring for the elderly as part of your volunteering, and wondering if there is more you could do to help improve their daily life?
Start flexing those problem solving muscles now to think how YOU would address a social problem to help build community spirit. It will help you appreciate you CAN make a difference. And it will show employers you have a powerful sense of responsibility, too.
Young Professional Challenge: how would YOU fix an issue in your community?
Problems are just part of life, and problems always crop up when you have communities of people living and doing activities together in one place.
Examples:
A local area is in decline. Shops are closing down. How can you revitalise the area?
Kids are gathering at night to drink in public. How can you stop this happening?
There are more homeless people in your local streets. What can be done?
Yes, fixing big community issues like these sounds like a big ask – especially if you haven’t had the training and experience to look into them the way you would if it was your job. But this week’s challenge will help you think about how you would use logic, and critical thinking, to tackle such big problems.
STEP 1: Understand the problem as well as you can
The key is to analyze what the community problem really is, how it affects the community, and then why a community problem is taking place, before thinking of ways to help fix it.
Thinking about the what and how and why will lead to a solution that works in the long-term, not just the short-term. They can lead you to the real heart of a problem, because often the community issue you’re looking at is a symptom of something else.
So how can you start thinking about the real issues behind a community problem? Using logic (and research), you can see if:
- The problem occurs too often (frequency)
- The problem has been going on for a while (duration)
- The problem affects lots of people (scope, or range)
- The problem is (possibly very) disrupting to personal or community life (severity)
- The problem strips people of their legal or moral rights (equity)
- The issue is perceived by others as a problem (perception)
STEP 2: Think about what is really causing the issue
Let’s imagine that kids are drinking in public at night. What is the actual problem, though? Is it that they are underage? That they are being noisy? Is it that their behaviour is unpredictable, potentially a danger to themselves and others? Or is it that they don’t have many options for doing positive social activities and have nowhere to go?
STEP 3: Think about barriers and resources to solving the problem
Barriers are things that might stop you from fixing a community issue. They could include things like:
- Not enough money to throw at the problem
- Not enough people willing/able to help
- Not enough local awareness of the problem
- Lack of organisations or official support
Resources are things that could help you fix a community issue. They could include things like:
- Support from organisations or official networks
- Charity funding
- Money/time/people to help carry out positive solutions
STEP 4: Take steps to help fix the community issue
If fixing community issues was your job you would have used critical thinking and done your research to figure out the likely root cause of a community issue, as well as resources you could use to help fix it.
If you were in charge and just rushed in to fix a problem like underage street drinking, then yes, you could introduce a curfew or arrest kids out drinking at night to get them off the street. That would temporarily fix the problem but that would not be an effective longterm solution!
With logic and research, you could instead decide to help raise awareness among teachers and parents of fun, cheap, safe resources and activities for young people in the area. You could look into arranging school visits from inspiring people and organisations that might encourage young people to find an after-school passion in life. You could also explore funding potential for amenities like youth community centres or sport centres. These are just a few examples of solutions that might help to address the original problem at its root.
How does this challenge help you in life and work?
Someone, somewhere, has to step up and look at community issues. We can all play our part, whether it’s just one person volunteering or it’s your job to make decisions about ways to improve life for other people. Problem-solving isn’t a dry, boring skill for robots. It can be used to look at so many people-problems that really matter in life, in any job you can think of – from scientists thinking about food waste to youth workers helping young people overcome huge challenges in their life.
Where you find people, you find problems. That’s just life. So take a look outside your window and think about something you see out there that you would like to change. When you notice life around you, in life and school and work, you can start to think of ways to make a difference.
