Written May 8/08 7:53AM
As I was exploring my office in Pinelands Creative Workshops i came across a poster that had a poem about about the things you can do to challenge yourself in life. One of the messages that really stuck out for me was a line that said "its easy to find fault in something, its not easy to find a solution." (somethinglikethat) This is an interesting and highly relevant quote for my internship, particularly because I'm working on an initiative that requires a whole heck a lot of problem
solving and conflict resolution.
I thought about the initiatives that I'd worked on in the past and how easy it was to find fault in them but how painstaking difficult it was to come to a concise and/or find a solution.
In reading that passage I realized that I am one of the many people who have been taking the easy route while disguising my "finding fault" mindset as actually being constructively critical. It is, however, much easier to find problems with a solution than it is to find a solution to a problem.
I remember something a professor of mine once said, "you can't help everyone, you can't find a solution that solves all the worlds problems, as people will forever have their own positions on an issue, but you can find a solution that harms those most vulnerable the least". When those remarks were spoken I distinctly remember thinking to myself how wrong and unfair her notion was and that we should indeed strive to find a solution that benefits everyone!
Though I still view that as the goal, I finally understand what my prof meant when she made that comment. It was and is my unrealistic attitude of believing i can help everyone in the world that makes it so easy for me to find fault in proposed solutions because, inevitably, their will always be room for improvement and all of those effected will not always be 100% satisfied with the outcome. In reality everything has a loop hole where fault can be found but its about doing what you can to harm those most previously harmed the least.
While i work during this summer I'm going to always remember this: Even though there is so much pressure to be holistic and perfect in development, there will always be someone finding fault and everyone will never be happy. It's easy to complain and find fault its harder to work towards a solution, this summer I want to do the hard work.
As I was exploring my office in Pinelands Creative Workshops i came across a poster that had a poem about about the things you can do to challenge yourself in life. One of the messages that really stuck out for me was a line that said "its easy to find fault in something, its not easy to find a solution." (somethinglikethat) This is an interesting and highly relevant quote for my internship, particularly because I'm working on an initiative that requires a whole heck a lot of problem
solving and conflict resolution.I thought about the initiatives that I'd worked on in the past and how easy it was to find fault in them but how painstaking difficult it was to come to a concise and/or find a solution.
In reading that passage I realized that I am one of the many people who have been taking the easy route while disguising my "finding fault" mindset as actually being constructively critical. It is, however, much easier to find problems with a solution than it is to find a solution to a problem.
I remember something a professor of mine once said, "you can't help everyone, you can't find a solution that solves all the worlds problems, as people will forever have their own positions on an issue, but you can find a solution that harms those most vulnerable the least". When those remarks were spoken I distinctly remember thinking to myself how wrong and unfair her notion was and that we should indeed strive to find a solution that benefits everyone!
Though I still view that as the goal, I finally understand what my prof meant when she made that comment. It was and is my unrealistic attitude of believing i can help everyone in the world that makes it so easy for me to find fault in proposed solutions because, inevitably, their will always be room for improvement and all of those effected will not always be 100% satisfied with the outcome. In reality everything has a loop hole where fault can be found but its about doing what you can to harm those most previously harmed the least.
While i work during this summer I'm going to always remember this: Even though there is so much pressure to be holistic and perfect in development, there will always be someone finding fault and everyone will never be happy. It's easy to complain and find fault its harder to work towards a solution, this summer I want to do the hard work.
