Strategies from the World’s Scrappiest Organizations for Tackling Complex Problems

Paulo Savage

A workaround is an effective, versatile, imperfection-loving, problem-solving approach that thrives when stakes are high, resources are scarce, and there is no time for the usual drawn-out decision-making process. At its core, a workaround is a method that ignores or even challenges conventions on how, and by whom, a problem is meant to be solved.
For example, poor infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa hinders access to medicines, even for cheap, over-the-counter medicines. ColaLife, an organisation of two staff, used Coca-Cola's distribution channels to address a healthcare problem in Zambia, saving thousands of lives. The following four workarounds can be used to address a variety of problems, using different attributes to address global responses to global challenges.
I. THE PIGGYBACK WORKAROUND
The piggyback workaround enables us to circumvent all sorts of obstacles and address our problems by using seemingly unrelated relationships. This workaround leverages what is already present in an ecosystem. Airbnb took off without spending a dime on advertisements in 2017, having more listings worldwide than the top five hotel corporations combined. It started by piggybacking on Craigslist's platform, sending emails with publishable links that enabled users to cross-post the same listing. This enabled Airbnb to gain a portion of Craigslist's market share, and when Craigslist disabled the cross-posting, Airbnb had already outcompeted its rival.
The piggyback is a workaround that uses existing relationships to create new ones. Scrappy organisations have an advantage when it comes to spotting unconventional pairings. To address our own challenges, we should look between silos and think of how the successes of others can be used for our own benefit.
II. THE LOOPHOLE WORKAROUND
The loophole workaround either capitalises on ambiguity or uses an unconventional set of rules when they are not the most obviously applicable. We often think of loopholes as inherently negative schemes that benefit the powerful. The most important details in this text are that there is more than one way to be right, and that we can benefit from the inadequacies of rules to circumvent or otherwise avoid their purpose. We can search for loopholes by using a different, more favourable set of rules than the status quo, or by looking more closely at the specific performance of the rules we find restrictive. This task involves the analysis of the ambiguity of the rules and the circumstances under which they can, or cannot, be enforced.
Women on Waves, a feminist pro-choice group, offers legal and safe abortion services to people living in countries where abortion is illegal. People choose to terminate their pregnancies on Dutch ships in international waters, as the pro-choice legislation of the Netherlands applies.
III. THE ROUNDABOUT WORKAROUND
The roundabout workaround disturbs and redirects self-reinforced behaviours, behaviours that are very common in our lives. Roundabout workarounds are a type of stopgap when things are spiralling out of control. They allow us to take cover from a problem, buy time until tough issues are resolved, delay assessment to increase chances of success, or resist oppression. They can even shift the status quo, turning a vicious cycle into a virtuous one. Social distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic allowed us to buy time and avoid unsurmountable pressure on healthcare systems while we developed vaccines. Homeowners in India, frustrated with men urinating on their walls, curbed this practice by placing tiles of Hindu gods on their walls; after all, urinators wouldn’t commit such a heresy.
IV. THE NEXT BEST WORKAROUND
The next best workaround focuses on repurposing or recombining resources, which can range from tangible to intangible, and from the most high-tech to the most basic. The key is to focus on alternatives that are available but largely ignored, as well as the different and unconventional affordances or assemblages of resources at your disposal. Topher White repurposed old cell phones to address illegal logging in protected areas, charging them with solar energy and distributing them across the rainforest. Artificial intelligence analyses the sounds and sends real-time alerts to rangers and community patrols, catching loggers in the act.
The best step forward is to draw attention to available opportunities, even if they challenge our way of thinking. These small flickers from creative, intermediate patches can lead to new opportunities. 

Compiled
BY Nabin Shrestha
WaterComm