Wicked Problems and Strategy Approaches to Deal with Them

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Wicked Problems and Strategy Approaches to Deal with Them

🔥 Major challenges / problems, which tend to be of strategic nature, are usually considered as a "wicked" type of problems. According to Hoerst Rittel and Melvin Webber, these wicked problems lack clarity in their aims and they may not have one solution.

Wicked problems are different because they can't be solved by traditional methods. Some examples of wicked problems are poverty, terrorism, unemployment, and many business strategies. There are various dimensions to wicked issues and they can not even be defined easily. Some characteristics of wicked problems are given below. Using these characteristics will make identifying such wicked problems a little easier and will help strategists and managers approach wicked strategy problems.

Characteristics of a wicked problem

• Wicked problems involve multiple stakeholders who can also play an important role in implementing the "solution" that is chosen.
• These problems don't have a clear, shared definition across these stakeholders. Everyone may see the problem differently, depending on their needs and interests.
• These different views will result in multiple possible solutions. The success of these solutions can only be proved when implemented.
• As the solutions can only be tested by implementing, trial and error does not work (Editor: this is in fact incorrect: this should rather read: "trial and error methods should be encouraged" see the reaction by @Gary Wong below for further explanation), every trial is significant.

Approaches to a wicked problem

Wicked problems need to be solved differently from the others and a specific approach of learning and argumentation is needed. Strategic problems of wicked nature need a scientific as well as a design approach. As the definition as well as the solutions to the problem are not well defined, a hypothesis-based approach is good to tackle wicked problems. Good hypothesis generation is necessary because possible solutions will vary according to how people view the problem.

You should involve the stakeholders as much as possible, value every input (even if it sounds trivial) as that may be important in the long run. Brainstorming sessions can help to formulate new ideas and will help in generating the best possible solution.

Communication is another important aspect of approaching wicked problems. Your strategic goal should be communicated as clearly as possible among all the stakeholders.

Even if the stakeholders approach the solution in their own style, the final goal (mission, vision) should be clear, and everyone needs to be on the same page regarding the problem at hand.

⇨ Who can help me to learn more about wicked problems? They are wicked to understand and so our any approaches to dealing with them 😜

Sources: Rittel, H. W., & Webber, M. M. (1973). "Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning." Policy Sciences, 155-169,
John.C. Camillus, "Strategy as a wicked problem", Harvard Business Review, May 2008.

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		2 John Henry Project Manager, United States
	Wicked Problem? or Poor Root Cause Analysis? Many problems have more than a single symptom, they affect more than just one group of stakeholders, and they affect them differently... But most of the issue of problem resolutions comes from attempting to address the symptom (putting a bandaid on it) instead of correcting the root cause (it may require surgery to remove the cancer). Now some problem's root cause is also complex, however being sure you are at the root cause of the issue before you start acting to resolve the symptom is critical. Suppose you have a problem with a computer system, suppose you have a file server that continues to crash. It seems to be caused by a problem with the network, or possibly with the memory available or even with the number of users accessing the files at the same time. So you attempt to resolve the problem by adding another network card, increasing the memory, adding additional hard drive space and limiting the users who an access the system... Still, the system continues to crash... So no one can find a solution, it must be a wicked problem, and it sits unresolved for 9 months... Finally it is brought to light that the hardware is not the problem, instead it is the operating system. The operating system is unable to manage the amount of hard drive space allocated to the server And, the additional memory that was installed to correct it, is not utilized because the OS is unable to address and use the additional memory, there are root cause issues to the failure. The solution, is to build a new modern OS server and migrate the files to it. So the seemingly wicked problem has a simple solution once the root cause is identified. By the way, 12 months after the upgrade of the server, it has not had a single crash incident. In conclusion, wicked problems are often a failure to properly identify the root cause of the issues. And sometimes the root cause fix is the solution that has nagged you for years...

		2 Jaap de Jonge Editor, Netherlands
	Wicked Problems I agree with John that we should use the proper tool/approach to tame the situation/problem/issue at hand. That's why it's kind of important to first consider carefully what the situation really is. Many people just don't realize or do this. They immediately attack the situation with the particular tool they happen to know. Probably from earlier experience or because someone else recommends it to them. However, when we have to make an important decision or solving a major problem, we should first start with assessing the nature of the situation carefully. Is it simple, static, difficult, dynamic, complex, wicked, chaotic? A wicked problem is the most complex type of such a situation. I like the word "decision context". A wicked problem is one of the most difficult, complex decision contexts, typical to be found in strategic and political environments. RCA is not a possibility in such circumstances as there is no root cause. Unfortunately, even if we try to assess the nature of the decision context carefully, we still might get it wrong.

		1 Alex Business Consultant, Germany
	Wicked Problem Solutions Strategy is simply a theory intended to predict a company's future position. Experience and observations do not predict - they help refine the theory. Experience can see the wrong problem and observat...

		1 Jeff Washburn Strategy Consultant, United States
	'Wicked' Problems Have no Direct Solutions Some things are only solved indirectly. Or perhaps there is actually no such thing as a "Wicked Problem". It's only a way to make sense of what we observe. Either way, there can be no one solution fo...

		7 Gary Wong Consultant, Canada
	We Must Look at a Wicked Problem Through the Lens of Complexity Let me describe a wicked problem using complexity science. "Wicked" is defined by the outer reaches of the Degree of Uncertainty/Degree of Conflict matrix: low certainty about how to take on problems ...

		1 zephir engineer, France
	Problem or Problematic Situation My understanding of a wicked problem rest in the assumption that what we call a problem will evolve at the same rate as the environment within which it is identified. I would speak of a "problematic s...

		2 Maurice Hogarth Consultant, United Kingdom
	The Wickedness of Complexity I agree with most of the points made although, @John Henry, I would not assign the computer situation described to the Wicked category. For me "Wicked Problem" means "Highly Complex Concern" (e.g. po...

		3 Jaap de Jonge Editor, Netherlands
	Characteristics of Wicked Problems The word "wicked" can have 3 major meanings: 1. evil or morally wrong (like in: "A wicked and unscrupulous politician") 2. playfully mischievous (like in: "A wicked sense of humour") 3. very compli...

		3 Jaap de Jonge Editor, Netherlands
	Example of a Wicked Problem The above may perhaps seem difficult and rather abstract. But I assure you that is not the case. In fact, you are currently in the middle of a very good example of a global wicked problem: The Covid-...

		0 John Henry Project Manager, United States
	A Hydra is a Good Example of Root Cause The head of the hydra, is a symptom, not the cause, proof is when you cut off the head, two more appear, so obviously, to slay the Hydra, you have to seek the heart of the problem. Removing the heart,...

		3 Gary Wong Consultant, Canada
	Living with Uncertainty @John Henry: I like your comment: "However, as there are so many situations, it is possible the root cause has not been adequately identified. So until we know the truth, the root cause will not be tr...

		1 Maurice Hogarth Consultant, United Kingdom
	Concerning the Heart of the Hydra @Jaap de Jonge: I do like this expansion of my point re "Wicked Problem" as being "Highly Complex Concern." I was thinking playful kitten in a bag of wool skeins but I am tending to prefer Hydra. Joh...