Think Small to Solve Big Problems, with Stephen Dubner | Big Think

Summary

The speaker advocates for 'thinking small' as a more effective approach to problem-solving than 'thinking big.' They argue that large problems are complex and often resistant to change due to historical and institutional inertia. Instead, focusing on smaller, manageable issues can lead to tangible solutions, as illustrated by examples like the School of One's personalized learning model and the impact of providing glasses to students with poor eyesight, demonstrating significant improvements in academic performance.

Takeaways

• 🤔 The speaker advocates for thinking like children, suggesting it can lead to fresh and innovative perspectives.
• 🧐 Acknowledgment of inherent biases, including the potential bias towards 'thinking like children' due to the speaker's own tendencies.
• 🔍 The emphasis on 'thinking small' as a counter to the prevailing 'thinking big' philosophy, with the argument that smaller problems are more manageable and solvable.
• 📚 The complexity and difficulty of solving big problems, such as education reform, due to their size, history, and deeply rooted institutions.
• 💡 The idea that history is filled with examples of brilliant minds failing to solve large-scale problems, suggesting that a different approach might be necessary.
• 🚀 Encouragement for those who wish to tackle big problems to continue doing so, while proposing that others might find success in focusing on smaller issues.
• 🔑 The benefits of addressing smaller problems, such as the ease of gathering data, understanding incentives, and implementing solutions.
• 🌐 The potential for incremental improvements through the aggregation of small solutions to larger problems.
• 🏫 A critique of the education reform narrative, suggesting it is biased towards the supply side (schools) rather than considering the demand side (students).
• 🎓 The example of the 'School of One' program in New York City, which personalized learning methods for students based on their individual learning styles and preferences.
• 👓 The revelation that poor eyesight can be a significant barrier to education, with an example of how providing glasses to students in need can dramatically improve academic performance.

Q & A

What is the main argument presented in the transcript?

The main argument is that we could all benefit from thinking more like children, particularly by thinking small instead of trying to solve big problems.

Why does the speaker believe that thinking small is beneficial?

Thinking small is beneficial because big problems are complex and hard to solve, involving many people and perverse incentives. Solving smaller problems is more manageable and can lead to practical solutions.

What are some challenges associated with solving big problems, according to the speaker?

Big problems involve many people, cross incentives, historical calcification, and require significant resources like time, money, and optimism. They are also difficult to solve due to entrenched systems and traditions.

Can you provide an example the speaker uses to illustrate the difficulty of solving big problems?

The speaker mentions education reform as a big problem, highlighting the complexity of changing long-established institutions and the many variables involved, such as class size, technology, and curricula.

How does the speaker suggest approaching education reform differently?

The speaker suggests focusing on the student side of education, looking at how students learn and addressing smaller, manageable issues like poor eyesight among students.

What is the 'School of One' program mentioned in the transcript?

The 'School of One' program is an initiative in New York City that customizes learning for each student by offering various learning formats and using daily assessments to determine the best learning method for each student.

What was the outcome of the experiment conducted in rural China regarding students' eyesight?

The experiment showed that providing glasses to students with poor eyesight significantly improved their academic performance compared to those who did not receive glasses.

Why does the speaker emphasize the importance of addressing small problems?

Addressing small problems is often easier, less complicated, and more likely to result in practical solutions that can be implemented effectively, leading to incremental improvements.

What does the speaker mean by 'thinking like a child'?

'Thinking like a child' involves asking simple, obvious questions and considering straightforward solutions without overcomplicating the issues.

How does the example of providing glasses to students relate to the concept of 'thinking small'?

Providing glasses is a simple, low-cost solution to a small but significant problem (poor eyesight) that had a big impact on students' academic performance, demonstrating the effectiveness of 'thinking small.'

Outlines

00:00

🤔 The Power of Thinking Small

The speaker advocates for the benefits of adopting a childlike approach to problem-solving, emphasizing the simplicity of 'thinking small'. They acknowledge inherent biases and the challenges of tackling large-scale problems due to their complexity and the numerous vested interests involved. The speaker contrasts this with the idea of focusing on smaller, more manageable issues, which can lead to more effective solutions and less resource wastage. They argue that by identifying and addressing a single aspect of a larger problem, one can contribute to incremental improvements, using education reform as an example. They suggest that by looking at the student side of education, rather than just the institutional side, we can uncover simple yet impactful solutions.

05:04

👓 Small Changes, Big Impacts

This paragraph delves into the practical applications of 'thinking small', using two examples from the field of education. The first example is the School of One program in New York City, which personalized learning experiences for students by offering various teaching formats and adjusting them based on daily performance assessments. The second example highlights the significant impact of providing glasses to students with poor eyesight in a rural Chinese province. The researchers found that a simple and inexpensive solution like glasses could drastically improve educational outcomes. The speaker concludes by emphasizing the value of identifying and solving small, overlooked problems, which can lead to substantial and positive changes.

Keywords

💡Bias

Bias refers to a preconceived opinion or preference that can influence one's judgment or understanding. In the video, the speaker acknowledges that everyone has biases, including themselves, which might influence their perspective on the idea of thinking like children. The concept of bias is relevant to the video's theme as it suggests that a childlike, unbiased approach to problem-solving can be beneficial.

💡Childlike Thinking

Childlike thinking is the approach of considering problems with simplicity, curiosity, and without preconceived notions. The video emphasizes the value of thinking like a child to tackle complex issues, suggesting that it can lead to innovative solutions and a fresh perspective on problems that adults might overlook due to their ingrained biases.

💡Big Problems

Big problems are large-scale, complex issues that are inherently difficult to solve due to their size and the many variables involved. The speaker contrasts the common philosophy of 'thinking big' with their argument for 'thinking small,' using big problems like education reform as examples. The video suggests that the complexity of big problems can lead to wasted resources and little progress.

💡Incentives

Incentives are motivations or rewards that influence behavior. The script discusses how big problems involve many people with 'crossed and often mangled and perverse incentives,' which can complicate efforts to find solutions. This concept is key to understanding the challenges of addressing large-scale issues.

💡Education Reform

Education reform refers to the process of making significant changes to the educational system to improve its effectiveness. In the video, it is used as an example of a big problem that is difficult to tackle due to historical traditions and institutional inertia. The speaker suggests thinking small within this context can lead to more manageable and effective solutions.

💡Thinking Small

Thinking small is the strategy of breaking down large problems into smaller, more manageable parts. The video argues that by focusing on smaller aspects of a problem, it is easier to find solutions, gather data, and understand incentives. This approach is exemplified through the School of One program and the glasses for students example, showing its effectiveness.

💡School of One

School of One is a pilot program mentioned in the script that represents a novel approach to education by personalizing the learning experience for each student. It is an example of thinking small within the larger context of education reform, focusing on individual student needs and preferences to improve learning outcomes.

💡Optimism

Optimism is a positive attitude or hope for the best outcome. The speaker refers to optimism as one of our most precious resources, suggesting that it can be depleted by the struggle of tackling big problems without success. The video implies that thinking small can help preserve optimism by providing more achievable goals and successes.

💡Stigma

Stigma is a mark of disgrace or a negative perception associated with a particular attribute or behavior. In the context of the video, the stigma around wearing glasses in certain cultures is highlighted as a barrier to addressing the issue of poor eyesight affecting educational performance. The script uses this example to illustrate the power of thinking small and addressing a specific, overlooked problem.

💡Low Hanging Fruit

Low hanging fruit is a metaphor for tasks or problems that are easy to accomplish or solve. The video uses this term to describe the glasses for students example, indicating that sometimes simple, obvious solutions can have a significant impact. This concept supports the video's theme of the benefits of thinking small.

💡Playlist

In the context of the School of One program, a 'playlist' refers to a personalized learning plan for each student, determined by their individual learning preferences and performance. This concept is used to illustrate how technology and data can facilitate a tailored approach to education, which is a practical application of thinking small within the larger issue of education reform.

Highlights

The value of thinking like children for innovative problem-solving.

Acknowledgment of inherent biases and the embrace of a childlike perspective.

The counterintuitive approach of 'thinking small' to address complex issues.

The inherent difficulty of solving big problems due to their scale and complexity.

The historical challenges of reforming institutions with deep-rooted traditions.

The argument for focusing on smaller, more manageable problems over large, intractable ones.

The benefits of targeting specific aspects of a problem for more effective solutions.

The ease of implementing solutions to small problems compared to the broader challenges of large ones.

The potential for incremental improvements through addressing smaller components of larger issues.

The bias in the term 'education reform' and its focus on the supply side of education.

The exploration of student-side factors in education, such as individual learning styles.

The School of One program and its personalized learning approach for students.

The significance of identifying and addressing the learning preferences of individual students.

The impact of poor eyesight on academic performance and the stigma associated with glasses.

The economic experiment in China providing glasses to students and its positive outcomes.

The power of simple, cost-effective solutions to seemingly intractable problems.

The importance of not overlooking 'low hanging fruit' in the pursuit of complex solutions.

The case for thinking small as a strategy for achieving tangible, positive change.

Transcripts

One argument that we make is that we could all benefit a little bit from thinking more

like children, okay.

Now you could say well, we're -- first of all everybody's biased in a lot of ways and

we have our set of biases too.

It may be that we embrace the idea in this book of thinking like children because we're

kind of, you know, childlike.

We have kind of obvious observations sometimes.

There's observations that strike people as obvious.

We ask a lot of questions that are not considered, you know, the kind of questions that people

ask in good company or smart company.

But one of the most powerful pieces of thinking like a child that we argue is thinking small.

So I realize that this runs exactly counter to the philosophy of the arena in which I'm

appearing which is thinking big, Big Think, but our argument is this.

Big problems are by their nature really hard to solve for a variety of reasons.

One is they're large and therefore they include a lot of people and therefore they include

a lot of crossed and often mangled and perverse incentives.

But also a big problem -- when you think about a big problem like the education reform.

You're dealing with an institution or set of institutions that have gotten to where

they've gotten to this many, many years of calcification and also accidents of history.

What I mean by that is things have gotten the way they've gotten because of a lot of

things a few people did many, many years ago and traditions were carried on.

And now to suddenly change that would mean changing the entire stream of the way that

this institution has functioned for many years.

Therefore, attacking any big problem is bound to be really hard and the danger is you spend

a lot of resources -- time, money, manpower, optimism which is perhaps one of our most

precious resources attacking a problem that you can't make any headway on.

So I mean, you know, history is littered with brilliant people who have attacked large problems

in the past half century, century among them famine, among them poverty and most recently

I think education reform, a healthy diet and so on.

So these are all really big problems.

So our argument is -- you know what?

There's a lot of people out there thinking big.

Maybe some of them will be successful.

Probably not so many honestly.

It's very, very hard.

Our argument is -- you know what?

Let the people who are gonna try to think big solve big problems -- let them go.

There's enough people doing that.

Why don't you just try to think small.

Why don't you try to find one piece of the problem that you can identify and peel it

off and try to solve that problem or answer that question.

So there are a lot of reasons why it's better to do that.

It's easier to satisfactorily answer a small question or solve a big problem because you

can get the data, you can understand the incentives, it's just inherently much less complicated.

If you can come up with a solution to a small problem there's a much better chance you'll

actually be able to get it done.

A lot of people feel like they come up with the answers to big problems but then you need

to get all the political and capital will to do it.

And that can be much harder than actually solving the problem.

So if you can peel off a small piece of a problem and then someone else peels off another

small piece and you add them up, you're constantly, you know, working toward a better place.

So I'll give you an example.

If you think about, let's say, education reform.

Even that very phrase is kind of weighted or biased toward the supply side, the schools.

It's basically saying that oh, all the kids and the families who are sending their kids

to school -- they're all doing exactly the right thing.

But education needs to be reformed because plainly the schools and teachers and principals,

they're the bad people.

So that's kind of an assumption already about where the problem should be solved.

So you think, you know, people have been talking about the many, many inputs that go into education

-- class size, technology in the classroom, resources spent, curricula -- the way the

curricula are taught and so on.

So, you know, what if you say instead well, that's all -- those are big parts of the education

puzzle and they can all be attacked in some way.

What if, however, what if we think about instead of the education side -- what if you think

about the student side.

What if you think about the kids who are showing up from school and what if you can look at

areas in which they're not doing well and maybe try to learn something from that and

gather some data and figure it out.

So I could offer two examples about this.

One is a pilot program that was built here in New York City that was called School of

One.

And what School of One did was it basically tried an entirely different model for each

kid.

Let's say in a math class -- each kid would come into math class on a given day and have

the option of learning that day's lesson or whatever lesson in a number of different formats.

In other words it might be sitting in a room with a teacher and a bunch of other kids and

getting group instruction.

It might be peer learning with other kids.

It might be virtual tutoring.

It might be doing a computer game.

In other words, you offer all these different options for each kid to try to learn the same

material.

Then at the end of each day, each kid gets tested on how well they did on that lesson.

And then you can learn what each kid -- how each kid best learned.

What form of teaching best learned.

Then you have a very nice algorithm that overnight computes the score of each kid with each kind

of teaching and in the morning each kid now comes in with a sort of playlist to determine

what I'm gonna do today in what format of learning and what I'm going to tackle.

So that's, to me, a really neat idea in which technology and a smart way of thinking about

the demand side of education, the students can change the way you can think about learning

generally.

Here's an even simpler one that than and an even smaller one that than.

It turns out that if you look at the poorest learners in schools, I think pretty much anywhere

but in the U.S. and in much poorer countries as well.

You can notice that often a bunch of them have something in common which is they have

bad eyesight.

So as ridiculous as this seems to be talking about in the twenty-first century, you know,

who doesn't wear glasses now.

I mean an estimated one million people in America wear glasses that have no prescriptions

in them just because they want to look like me, okay.

So Lebron James, you know, half of the NBA now goes to put on their fake glasses after

a game because it's just become a thing, right.

So you would think that the stigma of glasses is dead.

But it's not and in some places it's really not dead.

So some scholars, some researchers went to a relatively poor rural province in China

and they wanted to know how big a deal is poor eyesight for education generally.

In other words, is poor vision depressing classroom scores.

And what they did is they found out that a tiny, a pitifully tiny fraction of the students

in this one region who needed glasses were wearing them -- almost none.

And there was a stigma and there were beliefs that wearing glasses in childhood would have

a bad effect later in life and so on.

Some of which may have logic to them, some of which may not.

So they did an experiment these economists did.

And they said what if we take all these students who need glasses and we'll divide them up

and make an experiment.

We'll have a control group.

The kids -- half the kids keep going like they were before -- they don't get glasses.

The other half we give them glasses - $15 glasses I think it was funded by The World

Bank.

Much cheaper than all new computers and all new curriculums -- a $15 pair of glasses.

They gave them to one set of kids.

Then after a year they measured their education, their test scores against the kids who hadn't

gotten the glasses.

And it turns out that having glasses is a really big deal in school.

Surprise, surprise, right.

A tiny problem, incredibly obvious solution where thinking like a child, you know, sometimes

we shy away from obvious ideas because we think, oh, that's not sophisticated enough,

not smart enough.

Here however was a bunch of low hanging fruit.

A bunch of kids who needed glasses.

The minute they got them they started doing much, much better in school.

And that, to me, is the beauty of thinking small.

You find a problem that you can actually figure out instead of pining about it and guessing

about it for years and years, come up with a solution that's actually doable, in this

case incredibly cheap.

And happy ending, it works.

Not every solution will be so easy or so cheap or they won't always work but I think you

can see why we think at least that thinking small can have a huge benefit.