Primed for Solving Wicked Problems

Wicked problems in and of themselves are not new. They have been around since the dawn of time and will continue to confuse those that come after us. Systems thinking is evolving and we are learning from and taking lessons from all different fields in order to solve these problems. Systems thinking is something that lends itself easily when attempting to “solve” a wicked problem. “A Seven-Step Primer on Soft Systems Methodology” by Elizabeth Patitsas gave a clear framework that can be applied to such problems. Although written to accommodate computer science issues, Patitsas introduces some important ideas, such as thinking about your biases and opinions when solving a problem and forming a situation expression that does not contain value judgments. Both of these ideas are important not only in solving wicked problems, but can be applied more generally in daily conversations and relationships. By identifying the domain and situation that you are working in, it may become easier to then determine problem frames and solve those smaller problems instead. Breaking down the issues into problem frames can help us to better tackle monstrous wicked problems. The end goal of this process is to find a solution that will theoretically be feasible. At the end of the day, wicked problems will always be wicked, but wouldn’t it be nice if we could make them just a little bit less scary?

Question: Have you ever used a method similar to the one that Patitsas presents to solve a problem?

Comments

[Gabby Makatura]

During my time working for AmeriCorps I had to approach my work in a similar way to the suggestions made by Patitsas. I was tasked to find a way to get AmeriCorp volunteers more involved, but was given no further information really. We had not determined what was currently working best, where the problems were, and what the volunteers wanted. Not until we solved the problem did I fully understand what we were even attempting to solve: finding a way to create a more inclusive, welcoming, and connected community of AmeriCorps volunteers. That problem had many of the steps and indicators described in the article, mostly: this was a one shot operation, there was no wrong or right answer, and at the time there seemed to be no given alternative.

Even though this example does not fit perfectly I can absolutely see using these tactics in the future for those problems we approach as new employees that just make us sit down and say curse words.