Tackling Complex Problems with Multiple and Complementary Solutions

The Nicholson Foundation worked to advance meaningful change in New Jersey’s safety net service systems. Its journey is described in Changing Systems, Changing Lives: Reflecting on 20 Years.

Healthcare, early childhood care and education, and other social services designed to support vulnerable populations are complicated. Also, and all too often, they aren’t available or affordable. This makes it hard forpeople, families, and communities to get what they need to succeed. The Nicholson Foundation invested in
fl exible and complementary systems change strategies. These strategies were intended to raise awareness of the importance of these issues, make the services easier to access, and improve their quality, affordability, and equity.

Investing in multiple and complementary strategies made sense. It engaged a variety of players who had the necessary skills, expertise, and experiences to adequately address the problem. It created bodies of evidence to support future initiatives and partnerships. And, it allowed grantmakers to share ideas with government, and it
helped government attend to priority needs that it might not have been able to address on its own.

Our experience in tackling complex problems generated a few key takeaways that might be useful to others who are engaged in similar work:

• Recognize the inherent complexity of some problems. Don’t be daunted by what seems like a huge or intractable
  problem. Multiple organizations or complex approaches may be needed to successfully tackle these types of issues. It’s okay to accept the reality of slow change over time while still being impatient about getting to that change. Recruit others—especially those directly affected by the issue—who can bring big thinking and diverse skills, experience, and perspectives to devising solutions. These collaborations can spark fresh ideas, bring in new viewpoints, identify common goals, and enhance the focus on areas where combined action may lead to great impact.
• Be aware that complex problems evolve over time in response to external events. Work with collaborators within and across partner organizations to devise flexible and realistic short- and long-term goals and objectives that can accommodate these changes. Philanthropy can provide consistent leadership and stability even if other partners come and go.
• Take advantage of the role that philanthropy can play as a neutral convener. Foundations can bring together agencies and organizations that have different perspectives and priorities and that may not regularly communicate. This can create opportunities for joint action on problems of common interest.
• Prioritize clear and persistent communications with policy makers and influencers about gaps in services. Highlight potential opportunities for filling those gaps. Keeping these issues visible is necessary to motivate action that enhances access to affordable, quality services. This is especially true when a new public health or policy issue becomes the dominant focus of attention, pushing other issues to the back burner.
• Start with a strengths-based approach when planning social service interventions. Supporting programs that give families and communities the power to address their own needs is a positive approach with long-term potential.
• Do the homework. Study closely the history of what has been done and what approaches have been taken in the area of concern. Before enacting a proposed solution, know what specifically has been done in this area, and how those reforms have fared.
• Catch a wave. A swell of political or public interest can carry an initiative a long way.

Learn More

• Read the other blogs in this Key Takeaways series:
  — Engaging with Government for Systems Change
  — Elevating Best Practices and Building Evidence
  — Finding and Nurturing Effective Partnerships
  — Investing in Organizational Nuts and Bolts
  — Developing Future Leaders
• Read “A Framework for Creating Systems Change,” a paper by Drs. William Brown and Wynn Rosser. The
  paper presents a model for systems change that adapts and expands the Foundation’s approach, making it easily accessible to a broad audience and grounding it in the growing literature in this area. [Brown W, Rosser W. A Framework for Creating Systems Change. The Foundation Review, 2023;15(4):50-6.
• Receive or download a free copy of Changing Systems, Changing Lives: Reflecting on 20 Years. This book
  describes the 20-year journey of The Nicholson Foundation. Chapter 6 illustrates what’s possible by tackling complex problems with multiple and complementary solutions. It describes how the Foundation: illustrates what’s possible by investing in organizational nuts and bolts. It describes how the Foundation:
  — Engaged in parallel efforts to improve the availability of, and access to, quality early childhood care and education.
  — Supported a one-stop solution to help families easily and efficiently connect to multiple social services
  and other helpful resources.
  — Funded six complementary projects, all of which focused on enhancing the equity of maternal healthcare and reducing maternal and infant deaths and injuries during childbirth and the first year of life.