Listen to the right people

Whenever you're approaching any problem, the first thing to do is gather information about what needs to be done, the tools you have available, and how everything works. And the majority of the problems that you approach in life have already been dealt with before. The capacity of humans to exchange information has always been a tremendous benefit because of this. And as more powerful information networks have become available, the ability of each human to solve problems has increased.

But you must remember that people may know more than you think, or even, more than they think. Asking questions and inviting them to talk to you on a subject can be very rewarding. It's also important to establish a context for what they say. If you have the situation in front of you as you talk, you can see how everything fits together.

Also, it must be remembered that social innovation requires you to understand people. The more that you talk to a person, the better you can understand them. If they're part of another culture, talking to them will help you understand that culture better as well.

In some ways, people themselves are problems that have to be solved. You need to know how to approach them, how to speak to them, and how best to interact with them. If people can learn to work with one another, they become the most powerful force on the Earth.