Review of Upstream The author wants to convince us that we should move upstream at personal, organizational, national, and international levels. He says that we can and should stop dealing with the symptoms of problems, again and again, and start fixing them instead. I would like to learn to prevent problems. Definition Upstream efforts aim to prevent problems from happening or to systemically reduce the harm caused by those problems while downstream actions react to problems once they have occurred. Downstream efforts are narrow and fast and tangible. Upstream efforts are broader, slower and hazier but they really work when they work which can accomplish massive and long-lasting good. Although upstream solutions are generally more desirable, they are also more complex and ambiguous. 3 barriers to upstream thinking 1. Problem blindness. Problem blindness is best captured in this sentence: “That’s just how it is – so no one questions it”. It can be translated to “I don’t see the problem or the problem is inevitable”. 2. Lack of ownership In essence, this means “that is not mine to fix”. 3. Tunneling It confines us to the short-term, reactive thinking. In the tunnel, the only way is forward. 7 key questions…