PROBLEM SOLVING

Godwin Ong'anya

13 February 2009

Problem Solving Process

A problem is a part of human life. It is "a difficult situation, matter or person" (Problem). It would be to one's imagination to conceptualise how life would be without challenges. The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary defines a problem as "a thing that is difficult to deal with or understand" (Problem).

Problems are a normal occurrence in our day-to-day life and different people have different ways of confronting specific problems. Society is awash with conflicts. Bertrand Russel argues that "... he must know the good: this he can only do by a combination and intellectual and moral discipline." (Russell, 1984: 123-24).

Problems are meant for humanity, and I am not an exception. I have encountered a number of problems and with each, devising a way of confronting it, rather than running away from it. It has never been my practice to run away from a problem or finding a scapegoat. On this I concur with elderly statesman Nelson Mandela that that "the greatest glory of living lies not in never failing, but in raising every time you fall" (Mandela qtd in Clinton 715).

A remarkable problem I encountered and which I choose to use as an example in this article is as a student leader in my first year in campus. It was in 2005 at Moi University. University fee had been capriciously increased by US$ 100. This was contested by the studentship but as first years we did not know how to go about it. I decided to risk and present the case to university authorities. I received threats of suspension for engaging in "petty students' politics," an allegation I categorically denied.

In a Communication Skills course, we had been taught on the chains of communication, while the bureaucracy involved within the chain had been introduced in a different course, "Introduction to Political Science." As a student leader, I championed for a diplomatic solution, which was not easy. I urged my colleagues to stage a boycott of classes for as long as the increment could be refunded or at least succinctly justified.

The boycott hastened negotiations which later led to the Committee of Deans sitting to deliberate on a speedy resolution to the impasse. S.K. Misra argues that the society is composed of three types of social organisation. These are the element of coercion, exchange and social responsibility and integrity (Misra).

A deal was finally struck during the second week of the mass action, and the increment was nullified, thus causing refunds to be paid to the students. However, this was not an easy breakthrough as the Vice Chancellor has to intervene. The process involved haggling and compromising behind the scenes as students were peacefully demonstrating outside the Principal's office. David Lockwood contends thus "consensus is a unique constitutive property of societies." (Lockwood 3).

Behind me was the huge advantage of a large student following. I had to consult on major issues before taking a position. In the case of the decision to boycott classes, I organised a series of meetings sensitising my subjects on the gravity of the mass action.

Secondly, I sought advice from my colleagues as well as some university staff who had no iota of biasness despite their positions within the establishment. Most credit goes to the head of Department, Political Science and Public Administration Dr Harry Ododa who strengthened the students' case by questioning the increment in his department without prior consultation.

Thirdly, I maintained close touch with the university management throughout the process, asking my colleagues not to go on rampage. In fact the protest ended without any stone being thrown as is usual with like activities by university students in Kenya.

It was my first test of leadership in the university. I therefore objectify my subjectivity in arguing in favour of courage and objectivity as the major requirements in confronting a problem. Humanity is more or less the invariable, as it is 99.9% genetically the same thus enabling our peaceful coexistence (Clinton 686). There is no particular formula, because problems come within a context, and it is the context to determine the approach to a solution.

 

Works Cited

Clinton, Hillary Rodham. Living History: Hillary Rodham Clinton. New York: Scribner International, 2003.

Lockwood, D. Solidarity and Schism: The Problem of Disorders in Durkheimian and Marxist Sociology. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.

Misra, S. K. "Structure and Development of Economics." Binwal, J. C., A. S. Chandel and Veena Saraf. Social Science Information: Problems and Prospects. New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House, 1990. 54-55.

"Problem." Encarta Dictonaries. 2007. DVD. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2007.

"Problem." Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Special Price Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. 921.