Spilling my guts

I’m going to start offering some of the content of my book in short blog posts, now that I’ve conquered (at least a little bit) the mechanics of writing, printing, and distributing the book. Ready?

Lesson One: Define the problem; be flexible about the solution.

Before you can effectively advocate for change, it’s important to have a clear understanding of what your problem really is. What would make you feel satisfied enough to declare success?

In the book, I use several examples. Lee was almost hit by a fast-moving car when she tried to cross the street to take her dog to the park. Her first reaction was to march to city hall and demand a stop sign on her corner. Instead, she did some homework, talked to a knowledgeable friend, and even met with the city’s traffic engineer. She learned that stop signs are a bit more complicated than she realized, and might not actually solve her problem.

What she realized was that her problem was not the lack of a stop sign. Her problem was not having a safe way to get from her house to the park. And that problem could be solved in many ways, including traffic calming; a pedestrian-activated crossing so cars could move efficiently if nobody was trying to cross; or even better sidewalk connectivity to enable her to get to an existing safe crossing. By being clear about the problem, but flexible about the solution, she was able to find a way forward.