I studied engineering in college; and while there are a bunch of engineering disciplines focused on different things they all have one thing in common. Much of what you learn as an engineer is about how to solve problems. And how you go about that can determine whether or not you will be successful.
Questions and Boundaries
One of the first things you learn about problem solving is that you have to start by setting the boundary of the problem. Makes sense - to solve a problem you first have to know what the extent of the problem is. But this can be harder than it sounds; it's fairly easy to make the problem boundary too small or too large. If a problem is not properly defined then the decisions made early in the process don't lead to feasible solutions. You simply get stuck in a process that wastes time (and maybe resources) and the problem is still there at the end of the day.
The other half of defining the problem is trying to decide what you want to accomplish with your solution. And how we define our desired end can have a big impact on what paths we follow, what potential solutions we come up with, and how much of the problem we "solve".
Green Problems
As a nation, we face a wide variety of "environmental" problems that require solutions - air pollution, water pollution, toxic chemicals. And in some cases, I think that we have misdefined either the problem or the desired outcome.
Transportation provides a good example - we know that our current modes of transportation contribute to air, water and noise pollution. And up to this point, most of the effort has been put into making these same modes of transportation more efficient. Companies are spending a lot of time and money working to make cars and trucks (and airplanes and ships) that get more miles per gallon and produce fewer air emissions; different fuels are being tested and new types of vehicles are being introduced to reduce the amount of petroleum that our nation uses.
And this is good work - anytime we can reduce pollution that is a good thing. But perhaps we could do better? To do so, we would have to change the outcome we want to see. What if, instead of simply making the existing transportation infrastructure more efficient, we redefine the problem to something like this:
How do we move people and goods from here to there safely, efficiently and with the least environmental and social impact?
This a much broader problem statement than simply trying to improve mpg - instead it forces us to think about what we are trying to achieve. It also doesn't confine the possible solutions to new versions of what already exists, which can limit creativity. Perhaps most importantly, it acknowledges that there are economic and social facets of this problemas well, and that this problem is interconnected with many other issues we face - national security concerns over where our energy comes from; arguments over where the money will come from to repair and maintain the road/bridge infrastructure needed; negative health impacts for those living in high traffic areas.
The difficult part in approaching a problem in this way is that for many of us, it may lead to solutions that require us to give something up. Something that we are used to having, or used to do doing. It could make things a little more expensive, or my trip might take more time.
And there's the rub...am I as an individual (or special interest group) willing to give up something I want (but maybe not need) in order to make things better for my neighbors? Am I willing to serve, rather than be served? Am I willing to give up short term gain for long term peace? As a Christian, this is part of my daily walk - the struggle to turn away from what I want and turn towards God. It is to give my life to Him - not just the parts that feel safe, but all of it.
It's time for me to stop drawing the imaginary line between my "Christian" life and my "real" life and embrace the fact that I have given my entire life to Him. Perhaps now I can see problems for what they are and approach them with a different mindset...
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