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Observe First , Design Second

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Submitted By leo2001
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Observation is an underrated skill, and one that is in great demand for those in pursuit of wicked problems.
By Matthew E. May

OBSERVE FIRST, DESIGN SECOND:
TAMING THE TRAPS OF TRADITIONAL THINKING
THE IMPOVERISHED ECONOMY in rural northern Nigeria is based on subsistence farming. The large population inhabiting the many isolated communities survives by growing, consuming and selling fruits and vegetables nourished by the many streams and rivers that flow into Lake Chad. However, the arid heat of the semi-desert geography presents a significant problem: rapid food decay. Perishables last no more than a few days before spoiling. The solution would seem easy enough: refrigeration. But the problem is far more complex than simply being too poor to afford a refrigerator. For starters, there is no electricity. Mohammed Bah Abba, a Nigerian-born adviser to the United Nations Development Program in Jigawa, knew that this problem was even more far-reaching. The women of this predominantly polygamist society are segregated from the men and confined to their homes—a cultural practice called purdah. As a result, the 40 / Rotman Magazine Spring 2012

young girls of the family are forced to travel long distances to large markets each day to sell the food as soon as it is harvested, leaving little, if any, time for school. Furthermore, much of what is produced is either sold cheap or wasted, resulting in losses to an already meager income, or sold in a partly spoiled state, resulting in health hazards. The very health, welfare and education of Abba’s people was tied to the ability to keep produce fresh. Although he is neither an inventor nor an entrepreneur, he set out to find a way to address the situation, knowing that whatever he came up with would have to cost nearly nothing to construct and maintain, work without electricity, use readily-available materials and

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