Problem Solving at FrontlineSMS

As anyone who knows me will tell you, I’m a bit obsessed with words. Not just words themselves, but how we use them, what that shows us about how we think, and what it means when their definitions creep. It’s a side effect of having been trained as a lawyer and a journalist, I think. Or at least, that’s what I blame it on. Either way, it’s gotten me thinking about something. We have to change the way we talk about solving problems.

Let me explain. We, at FrontlineSMS, are very lucky to have a lot of friends,users, and partners who are trying to fundamentally change the way that we, as a world, operate. Many of these friends, over the years, have been recognized for their incredible work using just about every buzzword out there, from innovators to entrepreneurs to technologists to… you get the point. While I join the rest of the world in applauding the work they do, I worry about what it means that we lionize people who understand something we should all realize: problems are almost never solved and one solution almost never works for everyone. Somehow, acknowledging a state of constant change has became synonymous with a sprawling new vocabulary that tries to categorize people who solve problems.