Aristotle wrote of problems occurring in three distinct worlds:

• Logos—the logical, scientific, and rational world.
• Pathos—the feeling, emotional world.
• Ethos—the ethical world.

Since about 1750 western civilization has had extraordinary success developing and applying logos. This is the world where each person focuses the development of their knowledge and skill into being a doctor, lawyer, engineer, scientist, programmer, accountant, seller, etc. We also divide our organizations into their functional specialties. Specialization has been a primary strategy for career success. In the world of logos we tend to believe that all problems can be solved by the expert; that science and technology can pretty much be used to address all problems.

This world of specialization is best characterized by the machines it produced. World War II might be called an apex of this type of thinking and problem solving. The ability of the U.S. to make machines brought the war to a close. For the U.S., the Vietnam War epitomizes the failure of logos thinking.

In the 1960's we saw the world of logos begin to lose efficacy and other worlds described by Aristotle began to emerge. Civil Rights gained currency as an ethos or ethical problem. In the 1990's research by Howard Gardner and others have pointed out the nature of emotional intelligence, which Aristotle referred to as pathos.

Rising concern about the natural environment in the 1960's focused attention in an area Aristotle did not describe. We call this cosmos, or systems thinking.

Logos—technical, specialized, scientific, professional definition of the problem.

"The problem is that we don't take care of our collections. We need better climate control, better storage, more computers, more money, ..." Technical solutions to a technical problem.

Ethos—ethical, spiritual definition of the problem.

"The problem is that our standards for collections care are inadequate. We need to renew our commitment to the public to care properly for the treasures entrusted to us."

Pathos—emotional, social, interpersonal definition of the problem.

"The problem is that the people who make the decisions regarding the allocation of resources don't like the curators and registrars, and don't really value their work."

Cosmos—states the problem in a larger context, as it relates to the larger system.

"The problem is that the people who make the decisions don't fully understand the long term impact of their decisions on the vitality of the museum."

Each is a valid way to look at the problem. Each dimension leads to a different solution. However, we tend to get stuck in logos.

You can use this diagram to help others see multiple dimensions of a problem. Think of this as a lens to use when you see a problem, to help you see it in all of its dimensions.