Yvonne Agazarian writes that people are always solving and resolving experiences as they are experienced (Agazarian, 1968). She basis this on work by Howard and Scott in 1965, who conceptualized the concept of 'problem' as any condition that establishes disequilibrium without implying an awareness of how the condition can be resolved rationally.
Howard and Scott explain that when dissonance is encountered, people mobilze their resources to re-establish equilibrium. If the situation is too stressful for the mobilized resources, then people do what they can to avoid the situation. Successful problem-solving, Howard and Scott concluded, takes place when the activity around the circumstance reduces stress. Conversely, unsuccessful problem-solving results in increased stress.
The output of communication observed during group interaction, then, can act not only as a barometer of the stress related to the circumstances, but also as a compass that allows the direction of the exchanges underway to be identified, either toward re-establishing equilibrium or toward increasing disequilibrium.
Practicioners would do well to develop a presence of mind during unbalanced and de-stabalized interactions with others that allows us to observe and interact with intention and deliberation .
