Solving one Problem Leads to New Problems to Solve - Visualize This

I've been trying to visualize an idea and hope others will help. In a problem solving cycle people get together to solve a small problem, but find there are other things they need to do to solve that problem, so they reach out for more people and ideas. As they continue to solve the problem, they find more and more challenges. Soon they are thinking of things they never thought about when they first got together to solve what they thought was a simple problem. 

If you want to dig a little deeper into this idea, read this article titled, "The Cyclical Process of Action Research".

Image from Pinterest

In my mind I see a pebble thrown into water, which creates a ripple around it. As the problem gets bigger, the circle of ripples reaches further.  I did a Google search for words "pebble in water ripples" then looked at the images. There are many, each associated with web sites where other people are thinking of this idea and writing about it on their own pages.  Plenty to look at.

I created a concept map which is shown below. You can see it at http://tinyurl.com/TMI-Logic-CMap

That did not feel right to me, so I use PPT to create the visualization shown below. We start with wanting to connect a youth with a volunteer and over time we're looking at how these programs are inconsistently supported by current philanthropy and government funding processes. Thus programs have trouble becoming great, then staying great over many years. Cities have trouble making needed programs available in all places where the maps show they are needed.

Note that at the far lower left, I focus on "public commitment".  One of the problems I and others have is attracting viewers to places where we share our ideas, like this blog, and places where we can get to know others who are concerned with the same issues.

If you're a visual thinker I encourage you to create your own interpretation of this process. Or if you know someone who already has done this, please share the link or visual as a comment.  While I found many articles in my "pebble in water ripples" search, I'm not sure how many, if any, focus on the same problem I'm trying to visualize. 

How can we do this better? Today's article, and others written since 2005, like this one, all seek to engage more people in creative thinking based on on-going learning, aimed at building and sustaining school and non-school systems of support that help kids living in urban, and rural, poverty move safely and successfully through school into adult lives 

I hope you will pass this on and that you're part of a team of people who are exploring these ideas. 

Connect with me on one of these social media spaces, and if you're able and willing, add your financial support to help me do this work.