Week 3: Addressing Big Problems & Root Cause Analysis

     Wow, a lot to think about this week! This week's lessons focused on getting down to the root of a problem, which is hopefully obvious from the title of this post. We learned about a couple of different diagrams, The Five Why and The Fishbone, that force you to look at the multiple problems that contribute towards an issue. 

    We had to apply one of these diagrams to an issue that we care about. I picked low literacy rates in the United States. And I had to really look at all of the contributing factors that cause and perpetuate illiteracy. And boy oh boy, I learned a ton. Illiteracy is caused by a multitude of factors, including a lack of parent engagement, a lack of resources in the home, a lack of school resources, which honestly all of these ended up being connected to the cycle of poverty in one way or another. I found it both interesting and sad how interconnected these problems are. I also found it a little overwhelming,  one person cannot solve all of these issues at once.

    What I am looking forward to in regards to the social issue I picked, is brainstorming solutions. Obviously I cannot solve all of these issues, but I can think of several things that could help one of the issues that contribute to illiteracy. I just really want to sit down and think of something realistic that I can do myself to help.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 11: Impact Investing

 Impact investing is a concept I think is great. As someone who dabbles (emphasis on dabble) in investing in the stock market I think impact investing is a great way to make money in a more…for lack of a better word, moral, way. Putting your money into companies that make a difference helps not only yourself and the company you invest in, but people in need as well. My favorite part of this week was the business analysis of the glasses company Warby Parker. I liked it because of how the business started with a group friends basically coming to the conclusion that 400$ for good looking prescription glasses is stupid. Because it is stupid.  Do I think that poverty will someday be only museums? I hate to be a negative Nelly, but no, I don’t think it will be. We live in an imperfect world where a lot of imperfect people live. I think it would take massive amounts of coordination and effort from a lot of those people to make poverty a thing of the past. And I just don’t think it’s ...
Read more

Week 13: Disciple Leadership & Social Entrepreneurship

      This week we drew connections from social innovation to the gospel. In my opinion social innovation is potentially a very useful tool that can help us bless our own lives and the lives of others. Heavenly Father expects us to help and serve one another, and what better way is their to serve others than by using social innovation? Potentially we can serve others on a much larger scale too.     Something that stood out to me this week was our analysis of Kiva, they kind of seem like they suck. Problems with dishonesty, problems with paying back lenders, problems with diverting from the original intent. To me it felt like I was reading a slow and inevitable change from a non-profit focused on helping people, to a corporation focused on... well to be honest I don't even think they themselves really know what they're focused on. Too many plates spinning if you ask me.      As for my own social innovation goals... if I am being completely honest I...
Read more

Week 7: New Business Model & Lean Start-Up

      Well, this week was alright. To be honest this was one of the weeks I was not looking forward to. I wouldn't label myself a business oriented person, and so learning about business models and start up stuff was difficult. But, something Alexander Osterwalder said in his "A Better Way To Think About Business" article was interesting to me. To paraphrase he pointed out how the Business Model Canvas was a far less complicated way of laying a business out, and that it helped Nespresso turn around their business. I like to keep it simple, so if I ever start a business (I am very doubtful I will), I would prefer to use this more simple way of creating one.       Sharpening my own business skills will help others because I will have a better understanding of how a business works and can spot the weak areas of a business more easily. Which means I could help fix those weak spots and make the business even better. I don't know what business skills ar...
Read more