A New Perspective on Old Problems

Sometimes we need to look at things in a different way

by Jak Carroll, Strategic Sport Solutions

Imagine two staff members in a small office fighting over whether a window should be open or closed. As their manager, how would you solve this problem?

For most people the problem is: “how to decide whether to keep the window open or not”. Do we keep the window open for half the time? Do we have alternate days when the window is open or shut all day? Do we bring in a mediator to resolve the issue?

But if you explore the situation further to find out the motives of each party – one wants fresh air, while the other wants to avoid a draft -  we might find the problem is not simply about a particular window.

The problem now becomes: “how do have some fresh air while avoiding a draft?” And simply opening the window in an adjacent room might solve this new problem.

I sometimes wonder whether sporting organisations get caught up in the trap of trying to solve the wrong problem.

For example, study after study (as well as anecdotal evidence) indicates that the biggest fall in sport participation numbers occurs in the teen years. And sporting organisations, government departments and marketing consultants spend lots of time and energy coming up with potential solutions for how to reduce this drop-off of teens in sport.

Over the last 30 years, I can recall numerous junior sport units at federal and state level, plus conferences dedicated to the problems of junior sport participation.

And no matter what strategies were developed and how much money and resources were thrown at it, the problem remains the same today.

It appears that trying to entice teens to play organised sport when they are coping with peer pressure and life-changing exams, learning to drive, becoming sexually aware and forging their identity, is an almost insurmountable problem.

But what if went back to those participation studies, looked at the figures again and reframed the problem?

In addition to the sport participation drop-off in the teens, the studies show that most people never come back to sport! EVER!!

So why not consider a different problem: “how to get people over 20 or over 30 or over 40 playing sport again?” The challenge now is about looking at adults and how to get them back to sport.

It’s a new problem that will need a new approach and it may be a problem that can be solved.

Does your organisation need some help with planning or governance? Jak Carroll has extensive experience in the sport industry including consulting to organisations and running training sessions. If you are interested in some quick advice or having Jak work with you on your next project, please click here.