Subscribe to this blog 
Big Problems can’t be solved by Big Solutions
December 14th, 2009 by Mike Knutson
We’ve known for quite some time Dan and Chip Heath intended to include the story of the “Miner County Cash Flow Study“ project in their next book, Switch: How to Change Things when Change is Hard. Chip interviewed Randy Parry about the project at Grassroots and Groundwork Conference in St. Paul, MN a couple years ago.
Having the project, which kick started our development efforts in Miner County, SD, mentioned in Switch is pretty exciting for me. I’m a huge fan of their first book, Made to Stick, and I regularly seek out their monthly column in FastCompany as the first article I read in the magazine.
Yesterday, I stumbled across this blog post and learned a bit about how they intend to use the story of the cash flow study in Switch. The author interviewed Dan and Chip, and wrote the following:
Another fascinating component of the conversation was the Heath’s belief that “big problems are only rarely solved by big solutions.” They argued that big changes must be shrunk into the smallest components possible and attacked bite by bite. Very thought-provoking for someone passionate about the importance of the follower! The illustration used here was that of some kids in a South Dakota small town economics class who managed to save their town simply by encouraging everyone in town to spend just 10% more of their money locally. And it worked!” (Source: “Chip/Dan Heath - Switch,” Hogshadows. 8-8-09)
Big problems can’t be solved by big solutions. That makes me think of Rosa Parks. One lady, who refused to give up her seat on a bus, helped launch the Civil Rights movement. Of course, her singular action - standing up to the injustice of segregation on Montgomery, AL buses — didn’t eliminate discrimination overnight, but her effort played a pivotal role in solving a problem many, at the time, deemed insurmountable.
It may be a bit presumptive to compare the herculean efforts of Rosa Parks and the civil rights activists who toppled segregation in the South to the efforts of Howard H.S. students who raised awareness about the importance of spending their money locally; but I think the Heaths are onto something important when they say the solutions to big problems must be attacked in smaller, more manageable bites.
Of course, in the community development world, it means you also need sustained leadership. The students who participated in the Miner County Cash Flow Study project addressed one issue - local spending - but it took a decade of sustained community development efforts to achieve success in Miner County. Rural decline is, after all, a pretty complex issue.
And do we ever really achieve success? Like fighting discrimination, transforming the economies of our small, rural communities will take constant vigilance. It’s safe to say that something WILL go wrong in Miner County at some point in the future. A business will struggle or a building will be destroyed by fire. One never knows the challenges the future will bring.
But tackling big issues with small bites and developing sustained leadership makes a lot of sense as a foundation for creating change in our rural communities. I look forward to what else the Heaths have to say on the subject in Switch.
Note: I’d encourage anyone interested in learning more about the study to sign up for a free resource guide in the box found in the upper right column.
Tags: Dan and Chip Heath, Made to Stick, Miner County Cash Flow Study, miner county sd, place based education, Switch
Posted in Community Development, In the News, Leadership, Rural | Comments (
3 )
December 15th, 2009 at 9:38 am
It was an extraordinary opportunity to listen in during the interview between Chip Heath and Randy Parry for Heath’s newest book Switch. My firsthand experience supports the philosophy of small solutions to tackle components of big problems — I believe this really does work. The other layer to the Miner County story is the very intentional strategy to engage the community from the beginning. What we learned here is that each of us contributes to the solution through our own actions. That is very much in line with your suggestion that local people can and really do make the difference in their community.
December 22nd, 2009 at 10:39 am
No one ever eats the dinosaur in one bite! Break a problem into parts, tackle the interrelated parts, move on to the next and then the next until the issues have been examined, addressed and solved. Only at that point should a group, a community or a state decide whether or not an issue is “solved” or needs further discussion!
December 22nd, 2009 at 12:32 pm
Joel,
Great advice on eating — and just in time for Christmas. Lately, I’ve been reading some pretty heavy stuff from some of our country’s best thinkers, and I can’t help but wonder if they are not over thinking the solutions to economic problems. They are exerting so much energy in the minutia of their arguments that executing on the plan becomes an afterthought.
Merry Christmas and stop back more often. We miss you.