Solving problems, the island way: human resourcefulness in action among the islanders of Gozo

Abstract

This paper offers glimpses into how businesspersons, entrepreneurs and small business managers resolve their most pressing problems under conditions characterized by smallness and islandness in order to survive. Applying a nissological approach complemented by an action-oriented grounded method, the researcher explores and inductively analyses the mind-sets of islanders to explicate the basic socio-psychological process that influences how they resourcefully overcome problems associated with mistrust and powerlessness, transforming these into opportunities of trust-building and empowerment. Two concurrent and seemingly contradictory processes emerge from the analysis, suggesting that Gozitans – the residents of the small Mediterranean island of Gozo – apply both overt formal and covert informal processes to solve their problems.

Keywords

• action research
• Gozo
• grounded theory
• human resourcefulness
• island studies
• learning and development
• nissology