【Continued】Local Gurgle [114]What exactly is "problem-solving scholarship"?
The book Introduction to Public Policy Studies: "New Knowledge" for Solving Social Problems, written by Professor Takao Akiyoshi of Chuo University. The book jacket boasts phrases like "a new discipline synthesizing knowledge from other fields such as political science, public administration, and economics" and "a solution-oriented discipline." As someone constantly searching for solution methodologies, I was instantly intrigued and bought it immediately.
Fundamentally, "public policy" refers to solutions for problems like environmental issues, education problems, fiscal challenges, and elderly welfare issues—problems difficult for individuals to solve alone and requiring societal adaptation. The academic discipline studying these solutions is apparently called "public policy studies."
This book organizes and explains the policy process into five steps.
Stage 1: The first step is identifying and defining the "problem." This involves finding an undesirable state, expressing it in words, and analyzing the factors that led to it.
Stage 2: For the recognized policy problem, solutions are designed by investigating the social context and verifying the means and appropriateness of the policy.
Stage 3: Through repeated exchanges of opinions with experts, industries, citizens, the Prime Minister's Office, politicians, and others, the policy is ultimately decided by the legislature.
Stage 4: Various adjustments and coordination efforts are undertaken to implement the policy.
Stage 5: Since policies are designed to produce some effect on society, their appropriateness is evaluated.
Public policy studies aims to improve public policy by enhancing both knowledge about this policy process and the knowledge used in policy-making.
So, everyone. What do you think so far? According to art director Yuhi Shimomura, at this year's Cannes Lions, 18 out of 28 Grand Prix awards went to entries tackling "social issues" like refugees and discrimination. In other words, "solving social issues" should be a familiar theme for the advertising industry. Yet, given that, don't you think there's a significant difference in process between our industry and public policy studies? 
Actually, the author of this book, Mr. Akiyoshi, is a former seminar classmate from university. Under the pretext of celebrating his book's publication, I lured him out to the nightlife district and bluntly asked, "Why is the approach so different?"
Among his thoughtful answers, one thing that stuck with me was the origins of the discipline. Public policy studies apparently began with the ideal that "if we analyze things scientifically and objectively, we can implement the right policies." Admittedly, even in academia today, few would argue that "ultimately, we can automatically generate policies." Still, many likely want to make policy decisions rationally. This fundamental mindset may differ from advertising, which deals with human communication—something reason alone can't fully explain—and values sensibility.
On the other hand, while public policy studies once focused on "policy decisions within ministries and the Diet," recent years have seen increased attention on how undesirable states are framed as problems beforehand—what's termed "framing" in technical jargon. For instance, is the declining birthrate problem "a problem of children not being born," "a problem of the elderly population increasing," "a problem of population decline," or "a problem of women not advancing in society"? The perspective is that the framework used to define the problem will determine the response.
This is precisely the difficulty of defining "challenges" as discussed in the advertising industry. It is a point deeply connected to "deep human understanding." Despite public policy studies aiming to be an "interdisciplinary" field integrating multiple disciplines, it has so far been dominated by political scientists and public administration scholars. It may still be underutilizing insights from business administration, design, and advertising communication. This suggests significant room for further development.
...and so on. With Tanaka ginger risotto and perfectly cooked meats as accompaniments, I ended up gulping down wine, so I don't recall the finer details from midway onward. In any case, the approach is clearly different from "advertising common sense," which is refreshing. For those interested, I highly recommend 'Introduction to Public Policy Studies'.
Please, help yourself!
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Author
Sōo Yamada
Dentsu Inc.
Meiji Gakuin University Part-time Lecturer (Business Administration) Using "concept quality management" as its core technique, this approach addresses everything from advertising campaigns and TV program production to new product/business development and revitalizing existing businesses and organizations—all through a unique "indwelling" style that immerses itself in the client's environment. Founder of the consulting service "Indwelling Creators." Served as a juror at the 2009 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (Media category), among other roles. Recipient of numerous awards. His books, "The Textbook of Ideas: Dentsu Inc.'s Circular Thinking" and "How to Create Concepts: Dentsu Inc.'s Ideation Methods Useful for Product Development" (both published by Asahi Shimbun Publications), have been translated and published overseas (in English, Thai, and the former also in Korean).
