Strategic Communications by Kevin

Problems I most often help resolve often come to those who did not consider the whole of a situation, vs. just their individual role or contribution. We can see examples of this in technology choice and usage, sport, lifestyle, education, and business.

What appears to be the problem is often very superficial and noticeable. It may be the most obvious (visual) facet or perhaps the most assumed-to-be-painful part. While both of these parts do in fact need to be addressed in most cases, they most certainly do not make up the whole of the problem

Below I provide links to some YouTube videos that demonstrate, at least for me, that this whole vs. parts affects a variety of domains. I include one that many students are familiar with, that being that remote or online learning (or work from home) is easy and efficient what with internet everywhere and technologies such as Teams, Zoom, and the like.

A second example is one of a very typical dream job, which is that of working and traveling in exotic locations, leaving personal problems and worries behind. Make a living, stay healthy, earn income, and see the world? What could go wrong is never even part of the question.

Next example is a common one, which is that if a person puts his/her/their mind to changing a habit, it is only a matter of time before that habit is part of a new lifestyle. Good luck with that!

Finally, there has been a lot of underestimating about human vs. animal, as to how many men can take how many beasts. Sure, one could predict results using body weight, height, and intention, but again, these are only a few of the facets of the entire problem space. Have a look at the Three big guys vs. one lioness example for what I mean.

Examples

• Online meetings are easy and effective for everyone.
• Traveling and working (as a nomad) is the best lifestyle.
• Overcome bad habits (and follow good habits) just takes willpower.
• Three big guys vs. one lioness – who wins tug of war?

First perspectives make the solution seems easy and straightforward. Someone fixed the obvious problem with a ‘solution’ and we are led to believe that’s it, problem solved. And the good news is that the solution does in fact often solve those specific parts of the entire problem…..but we are still left with the other facets that need to be addressed.

What to do, if anything? I think as an effective and results-oriented strategic communicator, we need to take a little extra time – though not too much – to sit and breath with the WHOLE problem and not just with the obvious facets.

In my next post, I’ll give you some examples and thought experiments to show what I mean.