Concerns versus Problem

[Sirinate Piyajitpirat]

I have a great privilege to be part of a wonderful coaching team for the Aquatic Agricultural System (AAS) Competence in Bangladesh, Solomon Islands and Zambia. Last week, I’ve  learned so much from the team (i.e. Bobby from India, Olivia from UK, Onesmus from Kenya and Wiwin from Indonesia) on how to explain the differences between ‘concern’ and ‘problem’ and why the Constellation chooses to emphasize on ‘concerns’. Here are what we have put our thoughts together.

 

1.    What is a concern?

 

Concerns can be defined as a combination of factors, that the person or group of people are aware about and care for. A concern is synonymous to worry; it can be thoughts, vision, emotions of a positive or negative nature - and can be experienced as anxiety or even fear about a real life encounter or imagined issue. However, unlike problems, the anxiety or fear is coupled with a sense of hope.

 

Concerns are usually about things we care for. Examples from AAS could be spoiled fish produce, access to market, product low prices, low yield, unstable input prices, poor breeds, weeds, poor feeds etc. We are concerned about issues that affect us personally, or they affect our family, our loved ones, our group and our community. Of course we can also be concerned for the plight of others whom we don’t know personally but this is generally because we identify with them or their situation in some way. In other words, the issue is meaningful and important to us.

 

2.    Facilitative approach:

If we believe that a group of people or community can own the issues/challenges that they are concerned about, and that they have the capacity to address those challenges, our work is thus to facilitate community to see how the particular challenge relates to them, their family and their community. Further, our work is to stimulate them to reveal what they can do to prevent or to address that challenge.  By doing this, communities have ownership of the issues and will find ways to address them.

In the spirit of this definition, we seek to use appreciative yet, strategic questions to help reveal concerns and to ensure ownership and involvement. Examples could be: e.g what really worries you most as a farmer dependent on this river, OR as a person working with AAS dependent communities/hub? Beyond the concerns, it is the conversations by the group members which are paramount as they help elicit common understanding. So, for example, we would follow the previous question with some discussion of WHY this is a concern. Such discussions also trigger solidarity, provoking people to envision and to act together towards a shared vision. Further, through these conversations, people make a realisation of their own strengths to address some of the challenges (i.e. they can act without necessarily looking for external support). Eyes are further opened during the self assessment (deeper analysis).

Our experience is that most individuals, groups and communities experience short-lived periods of worry in their lives that drive them to act and adapt together (e.g. preserving fish to counteract spoilage, value addition for increased product market value, formation of group federation etc.). Our role as facilitators is simply to stimulate this, and support it when we are invited to do so.

3.    The difference between concerns and problems:

Unlike problems - which are complaints or annoyances- concerns come from a place of love and care of something related to our life and our community. This is an important distinction because it helps us to identify what is important to us, that is, what drives us to face and solve these challenges. Concerns come with the stimulation of capacity, and the identification of hope.

 

Therefore, whether it is a concern or a problem depends on what lens we use to identify them and how we articulate them. Therefore, we feel much more related to an issue when it is expressed as a concern. On the other hand, we may not feel as personally connected to that issue (or its solution) when we talk of it as a problem.

 

Please share your thoughts to enhance our learning.

 

 

 

[Kunchok Tsundue]

Hence conceptually the logical path/cycle  is PROBLEMS - CONCERN(1) - CHALLENGES - CONCERN(2) - HOPE - ACTIONS      

[Kunchok Tsundue]

For me, concerns are psychological/emotional by products moment you accept a challenge (non profit organization works) to resolve a specific problem from issues. Because we are not always challenged or all problems do not induce us to resolve only some. As rightly said, it can be positive or negative forms. Things only move forward and get converted into actions when concerns are positive. Only positive concern is accompanied by a hope. So while concerns are emotional (zeal, courage, will power etc.are some of its positive forms) the problems are not. They are negative situation or undesirable states that exists irrespective of whether we may or may not like to overcome. In no profit development situation, a good intervention can only be planned or conceived if you see stakeholders are challenged, concern and has a hope to see a desired future state. If any of the three components missing or weak, no concrete planning/project can be done.                     

[Rituu B. Nanda]

Here is a response from Belgium. Thanks Jan!.

Jan Somers

What is the most generative? Talking about challenge, aspiration, ... or talking about an undesired state, problem, hinder,...? From my NLP training I remember that some people get energy, generative power from "moving towards" a state, con...dition, situation whilst others get energy, generative power form "moving away from" a state, condition, situation. But from my coaching practice I learn: helping people to become aware (appreciate reality) is a first step to helping the same people to enhance their "respons - ability" (tap into and improve their abiltiy to give a generative respons to a given situation, concern, ambition, problem, challenge, , ....

[Olivia Munoru]

HI Gaston and welcome back! I have similar feelings about "worry" - that it is more synonymous with problems than with concerns. I like what the spiritual leader said - and I can think of many examples in my own life where worrying has simply led to an attraction of those very things I worry about.

Looking at this whole discussion, I think the importance here is not semantics, but mind-set. We can talk and talk about words and word-meanings but all of us feel, deep down, the difference between having a positive mindset and a negative mindset. For me, this is the main difference between the two concepts - Concerns v Problems. With our friends in Zambia, Sol Islands and Bangladesh, I am looking forward to approaching the issues with a positive mind-set - drawing from a place of love and care, looking to the future and, as you said, taking responsibility to act. 

[Gaston]

Insightful conversation. Helps me in my own articulation of the difference a lot. I do not resonate so much with concern being synonymous to worry. Worries in my experience are one of the most useless processes in my life and contribute nothing. Like spiritual teacher Ram Dass would say: "Worrying is praying for something you don't want". This is because you (unconsciously) put a lot of thinking energy to that aspect and without knowing you start manifesting that what you actually don't want to happen! Concern for me is more gentle and more appropriate than worry. It also shows the responsibility aspect that is so important. This issue concerns me. It concerns my whole being and therefore I take responsibility to act (or not to act).  

[Sirinate Piyajitpirat]

Thanks Kaj, Joan and Sanghamitra for adding up my learning.

Sanghamitra, I like the way you explain that concerns are 'internal to one' and 'come from within'. 

[Sanghamitra Iyengar]

Thank you  for sharing this, Srinate! It is really helpful. It has always been a struggle finding the right word in Kannada.  The two dimensions of the word " concerns" translate into two words Kalaji which means "caring" and chinte which means being worried about. This discussion has been very helpful. We almost never use samasye which is "problem" and now I can see why. Chinte  and kalaji are responses that are internal to one, come from within, whereas problem is not intrinsic. I can see that since it is the response and not the issue that the word is addressing , concerns is the best word... Thanks srinate, Thanks Rituu for sharing other responses...

[Rituu B. Nanda]

Here is from dear Joan Hoxsey, AI practitioner  based in the US. Thanks Joan!

 

Joan Hoxsey

Rituu, I want to suggest that we concentrate on the word appreciate -appreciating the whole human experience, the whole spectrum of human feelings is for me, the key to strength based approach. It is our humanity, the whole of who are, tha...t brings strength with it. Learning how people survive difficult times is so important. Helping people to appreciate who they are, what they are made of, what values they hold is vitally important to treating one another as equals. If we ignore the darker parts of life we learn only part of the story

[wiwin winarni]

WONDERFUL and POWERFUL!!

Congratulation Ibu, by combining all pieces ideas into concise explanation splendidly.

[Rituu B. Nanda]

Here is a response from Kaj, Appreciative Inquiry Community, Denmark. Thank you very much Kaj!

 

Kaj Voetmann I think we have alienated the word problem too much both in AI where the focus is on appreciating 'what is' and in SBA where the focus is on 'strengths'. I have ended up with a small map of the connections between the words: The space between the dream and the present state (including the problems) is filled with the challenges we are facing. I like to think that a problem is a 'frustrated dream' and it is very important both to notice it, to take it serious and to do something about it. Our traditional problems with the word problem is the 'blame-games' it often spark in our minds and conversations. The word problem tend to start a theater play with a victim, an offender, an accuser and people who are willing to spread the story about the 'bad' people who did this. In the Danish hospitals we had to replace the word 'fault' with 'unintended occurance'. Now we can talk about it. I like your use of the word 'concern'. It makes it possible to take responsibility for raising an issue even if there is no problem. The concern is probably all about keeping the dreams alive!