Let’s Do That Too

Imagine that a city Councillor or staff member attends a conference and sees a display about a new technology for enforcing traffic speed limits.

“Speeding is a problem everywhere. Our technology catches speeders,” reads the display. The company’s brochure outlines how their Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) cameras identify speeding vehicles.

The city representative thinks “These cameras work elsewhere. Let’s do this in our city too!”

Back from the conference, the company provides more information. Maybe there’s a presentation to Council about the solution. Or, maybe the company organized a meeting with another city who has just introduced the technology.

Once the city representative agrees, the company leads the city through the process. To meet Provincial or State regulations, Council approves their usage. The city would also have to set up their own validation system or “rent” one from another city. The private company would help the city inform the public and the school, locate underground utilities, provide designs for the “coming soon” signs, recommend a testing period, and remove the existing flashing lights (because those lights cannot be seen by the camera). The company would install the ASE cameras and replace / fix them when they become defaced or are cut-down by angry drivers.

This entire process would take several months or even a couple of years. During those months, not one driver would slow down because of the “solution."

Using Creative Problem Solving

Let’s compare that solution-focused process with our Creative Problem Solving process.

First, we’d work with you to clarify your “presenting problem.”

Think of the “presenting problem” like going to a doctor with a rash on your arm from an unknown source. Similar to the steps, questions, and tests your doctor might ask or take to uncover the cause of your rash, we’d work with you to get the proper diagnosis before taking action.

Step One: “Presenting Problem”

During a free pre-consult with you, you’d say that you want to install speed enforcement cameras in school zones like you saw at a conference.

Together we’d identify some key facts like “People are speeding all over our city,” and “We’re concerned about the safety of children getting to and from school,” and “Other cities are installing speed cameras in school zones.”

We would work with you to articulate your presenting challenge as “How might we catch the speeders in school zones?”

We’d help you identify who else might help address this problem. We could include representatives of the police, emergency medical services, the fire department, and the school. We would also suggest public works, finance, and planning staff, a crossing guard from that school area, and maybe the Mayor or a Councillor who heads up the public works committee.

We would also finalize the details for a meeting – like planning a half-day session in three-weeks.

Step Two: Fact Finding

At the start of the session we’d ask participants to share two or three things they know about the presenting problem: “How might we catch speeders in school zones?” We’d use these answers and a diverge / converge process to identify important facts.

Interestingly, while the group likely started generating facts about the many drivers speeding in school zones and how it’s important to catch speeders, we would likely have some other facts from the crossing guards.

When they learn that ASE camera tickets take weeks to get to a driver, the crossing guard might say “What good is slowing someone down three-weeks from now, when I have to get a child across the road safely today? I’m glad I wear a reflective vest and have a stop sign! Most people slow down when they see those.”

When learning that they would have to be removed to use the ASE camera, the school representative might say, “Our parents will not like it at all if you remove the flashing lights.”

The public works staff might add “Drivers respond to what they see. Studies show that drivers slow down if they see a flashing light or painted lines across the road. Drivers also drive more slowly if the road narrows or even appears to narrow.”

We would work together with the group to agree upon the key facts from the long list of dozens of facts.

Step Three: Problem Definition

Using the key facts from Step Two, the group would generate “aspirational challenges” using the phrase “How might we…?”

For example, the crossing guard could propose “How might we help students walk to school and cross the road near schools?” The police officer could propose “How might we catch speeders in school zones?” And, the public works staff might suggest “How might we add lane markings and flashing lights to let drivers know they are entering a school zone?”

Then, we’d work together to converge on – and thereby agree on – the most important, key, impactful, or effective aspirational challenges.

During the second part of Step Three we would map or align these key challenges. We would replace the “How might we…” with “Why we might want to…” and “What’s stopping us from…” during this mapping exercise.

For example, if we asked “Why might we want to catch speeders in school zones?” the group answer might be “Because we want to slow vehicles driving near schools.” We would use that statement to help develop the new challenge “How might we slow vehicles driving near schools?”

Then we would ask “What else is stopping us from slowing vehicles driving near schools?” The group’s answer might be “We need to inform or give visual cues to drivers that they are about to enter a school zone.”

That could lead to a “How might we inform / warn drivers about zones near schools where speeds are lower?”

If we asked “What’s stopping us from informing or warning drivers about school zones?” a participant might propose “We haven’t yet added lane markings and flashing lights in all the school zones.” That could lead to a new challenge: “How might we add lane markings and flashing lights to delineate school zones?”

If we then said “We know that one reason for adding flashing lights and lane markings is to warn drivers they are in a school zone. Why else might we want to do that?” 

The public works staff person might say, “I’ve seen other communities using other features around schools, like speed humps and narrowing the lanes and plastic bullards that help reduce vehicle speeds.” (Please see this data in our previous Insight.)

After the planning staff agrees and says that they have seen these measures in their work too, the school representative asks “Why can’t we just design the road so people don’t speed?”

Listening closely to the conversation, we would add that distinct challenge to the map. And this might be when the group has their first “Eureka!” or “A-Ha!” moment. (Please see the "Eureka!" Insight for more information.)

We would continue in this way to complete the challenge map. It might develop into something like this:

To complete Step Three, we’d ask participants to choose the most important or key challenge.

In our example above, participants might have marked one of three cards shown with a purple dot. Then, following some discussion, they might have agreed upon the key challenge (highlighted in green) as “How might we design roadways near schools so drivers don’t speed?”

Other features – like speed humps and colourful signs – could be budgeted and planned for a few months later or in the following year.

The participants might also identify that Automated Speed Enforcement cameras would not be an effective or prompt way to address the overall challenge.

Next Steps

We wouldn’t have had time to complete everything in our half-day session. If we had, we could have continued the conversation to put together an action plan (Step Six) and discuss who might need to accept the ideas and the course of action (Step Seven).

Yet, since line painting and sign installation are standard public works actions, in this case the staff would likely have said they could act quickly (Step Eight). It would have been agreed that they keep the Council, the public, and the school community informed.

As you can see, instead of taking a number of months and failing to effectively address the underlying problem, our Creative Problem Solving process could have helped slow school zone traffic within a few weeks.

Once again, we appreciate your feedback regarding our recent Insight about speed cameras and the requests to outline our Creative Problem Solving process.

We hope this helps explain how we might work together with you and your team to innovate and solve your biggest challenges!

Contact us today to help you get to the heart of your problem and solve it. Simply email us at info@augustynenterprises.ca or book a free pre-consult video call to get started.

Simply email us or book a free pre-consult video call to get started.