CRITICAL THINKING: THE ROOT AND SURFACE TECHNIQUE

A lot of thoughts crossed my mind, and I finally choose to put this one into writing. Permit me to ask you this very personal question: 'When faced with difficult and challenging situations in life, what do you first tackle?
The root or the surface?' By the root, I mean the very thing that caused the situation in the first instance. This could vary from a mistake, an attitude, misplaced priorities or something of that 'cause-nature'. In the same vein, 'the surface' in this context simply talks about fixing the immediate and most visible effect without really taking the major cause into consideration. Subsequently, I'd give two situations and the right approach to tackle them using the 'root or surface' technique.

A lot of things must be considered while choosing the most appropriate method to solve a problem. One of them is the Cost and Time Analysis as well as the Level Of Effect or Damage. Let me present to you a scenario. The day is Monday and you are walking under that hot FUNAAB sun, and you are very hungry. The time is 11.50am and your next lecture is in 10 minutes. Would you rather go home to make something to eat, or rather grab a quick snack and drink? Now, although there are some people that always prefer home food with no compromise, the best approach either ways is to get something that would quench the hunger for the moment, and perhaps later at home, you make something to eat. This has saved you stress, cost, time and the fear of not making it in time for your next class is eradicated.

Consider however this second scenario. You have a 20Litre water tank, and all of a sudden, you notice a leak on the tank. Now, upon close examination, you realise that the leak is due to an opening somewhere on the tank. Would you rather close up the leak, leaving the leak-causing opening to continue expanding, or you go all the way down to the opening, close it and slowly work your way back up to the leak? Doing this has saved you the stress and expense of having to continually fix the leak,

This is a very simple technique that helps you make concrete decisions in even tight corners. By analysing the situation on every level: cost, time and stress or expense, you would soon discover that making choices are not so hard after all!

I do hope this has helped someone.


Writer: da_princey.


Writer: da_princey.