“Paralysis by analysis.” This was a saying that popped into my head years ago when I was sitting in a committee whose purpose it was to look at the opportunities for the community to engage the police and help them better understand what was really going on in the community.
Part of the reason that this thought came into my mind is that I was also participating in various other committees and I was becoming increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress being made in actually doing anything concrete about any of the various issues tabled by these committees.
All these committees had eager people sitting around the table who all had opinions on what how best to analyze the issue at hand and what the best approach should be. Others enjoyed researching best practices in addressing similar issues elsewhere and some members enjoyed going through piles of statistical data so that they could properly measure and comparatively study the issues.
Even when solutions were proposed, some members felt the need to dissect each one to pieces in hopes of being able to predict which one would have the most favorable outcome. Pretty soon I felt my head spinning with all this analysis. Part of me always felt compelled to jump in with both feet and join the debate, while another side of me wanted to just sit back and observe what was going on, so that I could stay focused on staying true to our original purpose for being there which was typically to resolve the issues at hand. Rarely did any resolution actually make it into any concrete actions towards an eventual long-term solution, or even a short term one.
I have found that over the years, we as humans have managed to make the simple, extremely complicated. We tend to over analyze everything for fear of making a decision without all the facts. Think about all the time you waste trying to get all the best information before acting to solve an issue that can typically can be solved using a simple commo-sense approach or a “tried, tested and true” approach.
Age is a high price to pay for maturity, they say, but I also think that age is a high price to pay for wisdom, because so many very wise people have left us with enough information to solve most of human conflicts, yet we keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again.
Why is that?
Well, for starters, while we deliberate on how to solve what ails society, others are busy actually creating the problems without any delays in deliberation. For example, impulsive acts of criminality and other anti-social behavior will always triumph over analytical and reactive law and order responses or applied crime enforcement because we are burdened by doing things “the right way.”
In the world of law enforcement, for example, shortcuts are typically not allowed or tolerated, because “what if” you miss something or you contravene someone’s rights under the Charter Of Right and Freedoms, etc? We have spent hundreds of years deliberating over all sorts of laws that are supposed to help us keep balance and order in society and where laws fall short, we have used guidelines, policies, protocol, social conditioning, religion and cultural traditions as well as fear of further consequences in the spiritual after life! So with these well-thought out things to regulate human behavior, why does it still seem like we are getting nowhere when it comes to being able to really solve the issues that create criminal behavior and general human conflict?
Allow me to share some wisdom that may shed some light on a possible answer. I truly believe that if you are trying to solve problems using the same tool that created the problems, you ultimately have another problem. What do I mean? Well, if the human mind is the reason that we are where we are today as far as creating the type of social conditions that still favor criminal behavior and we are appealing to our minds for solutions, but the problem persists, then maybe the solutions needs to come from some other form of intelligence.
I believe that that other place of intelligence is found when you act on faith. By faith I mean that people are able to go beyond what the mind can see or understand and take a course of action that you profoundly believe is the “right thing to do” even if there is a part of your mind that doubts the outcome of your actions or choice. Hence the saying “taking a leap of faith,” because despite not being able to see an immediate positive outcome, you still believe your course of action is the right path to choose and that further discussion, or research is not the way to go.
When you have faith in doing the “right thing” taking action is easy because it just “feels” right for you to do so. To do nothing becomes very hard when you are able to see clearly what has to be done. When you help someone out who is in truly in need, then you get that feeling and when you become part of something that is a solution for everyone, you feel a sense of being connected to others in a positive way that is beyond compare. Or as the ads now say: “priceless.”
This may sound kind of preachy, but I have seen it work countless times in the police and community world, when a committee is struck and soon everyone gets bogged down with the overwhelming sense of “this problem is so much bigger than me.” Suddenly someone gets a jolt of inspiration and this carries everyone towards being able to identify simple solutions that were previously hidden underneath seemingly complex problems. It is always the simple solutions that make a difference at the end of the day, because they are the ones that people will ultimately put into action.
So when in doubt … take responsibility, get involved, make a decision, follow through to the end, report suspicious activity as well as crime in progress, look out for your neighbours, help an old person, help a disabled person, help a child, be a role model, start a Neighbourhood Watch, get to know your local police officers, start a community association, get to know your local ward councilor, clean the side walk outside you house or business, help clean the entire block with your neighbours, report graffiti, clean up graffiti, support local artists, host a street party, secure your house, share your knowledge, share your story, share your wealth, give smart, speak the truth, help educate the poor, sit on your front porch, talk to strangers on your street.
Do something, do anything and by doing you will be learning and those simple solutions will present themselves and make things noticeably better in your own back yard.