Curated Book: The Way Out

ACT Rochester Advisory Committee member Sharon Stiller attended a presentation by Columbia professor of psychology and education Dr. Peter T Coleman and recommended his book, The Way Out: How to Overcome Toxic Polarization.

Instead of pitching the book, let me provide some quotes to whet your appetite:

“We don’t process new information neutrally, instead we are motivated to make sense of it in ways that are consistent with our existing worldview…” (pg. 30)

“After a sufficient reset, the next order of business is to locate what is already working. This practice is based on research findings that change-resistant problems are often most responsive to positive deviance or bright spots, existing remedies that have already arisen and proven useful and sustainable within the context of the problem.” (pg. 77)

“when feedback on the result of our actions come in it is time to pay more attention, not less; to make more decisions, not fewer. It involves starting wisely, making corrections in midcourse, and learning from our mistakes.” (pg. 203)

ACT Rochester followers should find these quotes familiar and while the topic for Dr. Coleman is the political polarization, the points made in the book are very applicable to our community’s struggles with social change.

The good thing to know is that the way of thinking that ACT Rochester has been promoting - the scientific method, embracing complexity, continuous improvement - are based in science! Peter Coleman’s The Way Out is a great resource as we continue toward social transformation.

Source: Coleman, P. T. (2021). The way out: How to overcome toxic polarization. Columbia University Press.

Curated Article: An Innovative Approach to Traffic Safety

The Stanford Social Innovation Review has an excellent article titled “A New Model for Saving Lives on Roads Around the World” that both highlights a successful program in India and models rigorous problem-solving. 

The article begins with descriptive statistics to paint the picture of the safety crisis for vehicles in India. Authors point out that India has only 1 percent of the world’s motor vehicles yet accounts for 11 percent of road crash fatalities. The data story is clear: Intervention is necessary. 

This article is particularly notable because of its advanced use of data for decision-making. In one section, authors describe how data indicated a need to prevent rear-end collisions, but that guidance from the West suggested tactile edge lines that didn’t work in India. The solution began with existing guidance and was then customized to suit the Indian community in need. Continuous improvement in action.

The Design Thinking section of the Stanford Social Innovation Review is an excellent resource to train our thinking about problem-solving.

The Pursuit of Improvement

In our last post, we shared a bit about the importance of pilot programs and the value of having an end point to analyze impact. Pilots are one example of using improvement science to find solutions and make changes.

Taking a wider view, pilots are often part of a commonly used approach called the Plan Do Study Act (PDSA) Cycle. Data is at the heart of every step in this systematic problem-solving model. It is essential for understanding the problem, identifying potential solutions, and determining whether these changes actually lead to improvement.

Learn more about how the PDSA Cycle works and how it can be applied to almost any improvement project and feel free to contact actrochester@racf.org for assistance.