
Why we suck at “solving wicked problems” - imartin2k
http://www.morebeyond.co.za/why-we-suck-at-solving-wicked-problems/
======
peatmoss
When I was in my urban planning masters program they suggested a typology of
problems as sort of a 2x2 matrix, or a cartesian plane.

On one margin you can classify problems according to how well the mechanisms
for addressing the problem are. On the other margin, you can classify problems
according to how much agreement there is on what the aims should be.

Wicked problems, in my view, are problems where you neither have agreement on
the desired end state, nor a good understanding/capacity to effect any
potential outcome.

As a self-professed geek, I’ve spent a lot of my life thinking hard about how
to address technical mechanisms of problem solving, usually with an assumed
view of what constitutes “solved.”

At least in the disciplines where I’ve spent time, I’m increasingly convinced
that the lion’s share of every problem is political rather than technical.

With that definition of a wicked problem, it seems obvious why we’d suck at
solving them. They’re wicked after all!

~~~
ThomPete
So the climate is a wicked problem as an example? I think a different way to
say this is that wicked problems are by definition either political or
ideological.

Iagree with you completely.

~~~
peatmoss
Absolutely climate change is wicked, but perhaps in superlatively vicious and
subtle ways. I mean, it’s not technically hard to stop puttng carbon in the
atmosphere, but it is technically hard to do stop putting carbon in the
atmosphere and maintain our standard of living.

In my view truly wicked problems have both ideological / political components
as you say, as well as mechanistic challenges. In climate both types of
challenges abound.

~~~
ThomPete
I dont think mechanical challenges are necessary for a wicked problem, but
political and ideological challenges always are i think, i would have to think
about it some more

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nod
For those to whom this article clicks and resonates: at what stage of
ego/mental development do you think this perspective unlocks? I perceive this
complexity now, but the me of just three years ago wouldn't have. In the past
year I have wrestled with a complex software quality cultural
transformation... But I don't think that's a reliable growth trigger, as
people can stay stuck in linear thinking even as it fails. Is it solely
psychological development into the self-transforming mind? Or, what would make
this mindset "gettable" by more people?

~~~
spacegod
Mental development is not linear.

------
DoreenMichele
This is actually surprisingly good. It could use some Einstein quotes, like
the one about how you can't solve a problem from the same mindset that created
it.

But there is also the issue that when we do, in fact, solve wicked problems,
people essentially "forget" it ever happened.

From my blog, a thing I've said about a billion times and got tired or writing
from scratch over and over:

Maybe you have heard of Y2K? No, maybe not. Maybe are you too young to
remember it.

When computers first came out, they had very limited storage. It made a big
difference if you used two digits or four to record the year. So they used two
digits because the extra two were such a hardship.

As the turn of the century approached -- the year 2000 (abbreviated Y2K) --
people began predicting that our global banking system would melt down. Some
people became what we now call Preppers. They had five years of flour in the
basement and guns at the ready for a post apocalyptic world.

And then midnight came that New Year's Eve and the world did not melt down
because old programmers who wrote old programming languages had quietly been
fixing the problem for several years. Mostly, you could no longer program your
VCR ahead of time to record stuff, which didn't matter that much because most
people didn't know how to program their VCR anyway. They just pushed the
"record" button when the show started if they wanted it recorded.

No one wakes up these days and says "Thank god! I'm not living in the Y2K Post
Apocalypse! ATMs work and the global banking system still works and VCRs have
long since been replaced."

Except maybe me and my sons. We occasionally say things like that. But no one
else does.

Instead, there are people who mock the idea that this was ever a problem, like
"Can you believe those idiots ever thought it would become a global banking
meltdown! Ha!"

Similarly, when Iraq set fire to hundreds of oil wells on its way out of
Kuwait, experts predicted it would burn for years and be a global
environmental disaster. Then crack teams from around the world converged on
Kuwait, invented new techniques on the spot and wrapped up the job in a mere
six months.

There was no media storm celebrating this amazing victory on par with the dire
warnings we heard about endlessly when this disaster was being predicted. This
triumph became a minor footnote in more exciting news stories.

We don't run around today thanking our lucky stars that the Kuwaiti Oil Fires
failed to become the global catastrophe it was expected to be.

"Intellectuals solve problems, geniuses prevent them." \-- Einstein

~~~
pizza
Those firefighters were terrific. There's a cool short documentary on them
called Fires of Kuwait, all available on Youtube in case anyone wants to know
more:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L77BSBKvMJk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L77BSBKvMJk)

~~~
captainperl
Same with the Chilean Atacama mine collapse rescue.

The Chilean president gets credit for unwavering support for a rescue, but the
American drilling team ultimately was the successful one.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Copiap%C3%B3_mining_accid...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Copiap%C3%B3_mining_accident)

