How To: Stakeholder approach

Many times, we are not able to reproduce the points we had remembered. This occurs when we have not encoded the content properly or we miss the appropriate cues to recall the content from our long-term memory.

At other times, we are not really aware of the issue so we find it difficult to generate some points. However, given the breadth of the syllabus, it is not always possible to cover every single topic. Therefore, it is essential to develop the required thinking skills so that one can speak, or write on a relatively unknown issue. The stakeholder approach could be very fruitful in this regard.

Let us directly understand from an example. Suppose you have to evaluate the issue of IPL vs. drought situation in Maharashtra. If we are not familiar with the intricacies of the subject then it is very difficult to generate points. Even if we produce some insights, they would be scattered and unstructured. However, stakeholder approach comes to our rescue in this scenario.

Ask yourself 3 basic questions.
First, Who are the stakeholder's involved in this issue?
So in IPL vs. Drought case, IPL authorities, farmers who are committing suicide, poor people who are toiling hard to get water, the government who has the responsibility to provide water to everyone, court before whom the matter is pending and miscellaneous like civil society, players, IPL viewers, water regulatory bodies etc are major stakeholder. Now one can generate enough points to not only write a 200 words answer but even write a full 1000 word essay on the subject.

Second, What are possible perspectives from our general understanding? Who would say what?
Here, IPL governing authorities will say their water usage are minimal and they are becoming a victim of politics.
Farmers would say it is livelihood issue. The drought will force them to commit suicide.
Governing authorities would be considered apathetic, irresponsible, and lazy in the light of not being able to predict this development and not making arrangments for dying farmer and thirsty population.

Third, What could be the some facts, case studies or solutions related to the overarching theme?
In this case, the theme is water. So with respect to water, we can cite case study of Hiwre Bazar, Channai Rain water harvesting, Rajasthan canal network and many others. For facts, one can use common sense to say that India has become water stress and our water table is going abysmally low. For solutions, we can use our general knowledge to write some insightful solutions. For example, making more wells, storing rain water, focus on drip irrigation or reusing kitchen water in the toilet. Probably all the things you would do when you are faced with water crisis.

That's it. Now you can quickly write a beautiful answer, highlighting all the different perspective and suggesting some specific relevant solution. Your answer is not only content rich but also multi-dimensional, interlinked with other concepts and well supported with facts.

Once an aspirant practice this thinking style, he does not need to remember and he can write and speak extempore on most of the common issues. However, this can further be improved with the help of other approaches about which I'll write tomorrow.