The very hardest problems our world faces are often lately called "Wicked Problems". From Wikipedia on Wicked Problems:
How do we start solving these problems?
I spent a bit of time googling for approaches to solving these rat nests. Most of the writing I found about wicked problems, discussed their characteristics in depth, but at most gave a few lines of platitudes about how to solve them.
Lets look at them a little more closely. What do their characteristics imply?
First and foremost, we need effective multidisciplinary teams. They will need real skills in the domains where the wicked problems live:
Next, we will need to deal with complex dependencies and changing requirements. This calls for strong Management and Project Management skills.
It's clear to me why most startups focus on solving a small technical problem instead of one of these monsters: it's way easier and less risky, you dont need an all-star multidisciplinary team, and you can get started without the type of funding it would take to support such a team.
So there is this huge gap between problems a small specialized team can handle, and serious wicked problems. How do we bridge that gap? Lets look at that in a followup blog post.
"Wicked problem" is a phrase originally used in social planning to describe a problem that is difficult or impossible to solve because of incomplete, contradictory, and changing requirements that are often difficult to recognize. The term ‘wicked’ is used, not in the sense of evil but rather its resistance to resolution.[1] Moreover, because of complex interdependencies, the effort to solve one aspect of a wicked problem may reveal or create other problems.
Real life wicked problems make 10,000 piece puzzles look like a cakewalk
...
Classic examples of wicked problems include economic, environmental, and political issues. A problem whose solution requires a great number of people to change their mindsets and behavior is likely to be a wicked problem. Therefore, many standard examples of wicked problems come from the areas of public planning and policy. These include global climate change[5], natural hazards, healthcare, the AIDS epidemic, pandemic influenza, international drug trafficking, homeland security, nuclear weapons, and nuclear energy, waste and social injustice.
How do we start solving these problems?
I spent a bit of time googling for approaches to solving these rat nests. Most of the writing I found about wicked problems, discussed their characteristics in depth, but at most gave a few lines of platitudes about how to solve them.
Lets look at them a little more closely. What do their characteristics imply?
- Vague / incomplete / changing requirements
- Complex interdependencies
- Economic, environmental, political issues
- Often requiring a great number of people to change their mindsets and behaviour
- Many standard examples of wicked problems come from the areas of public planning and policy
First and foremost, we need effective multidisciplinary teams. They will need real skills in the domains where the wicked problems live:
- economics
- environment
- politics
- public planning, and policy
- marketing, social science and psychology, social media
- internet, mobile, and communications technology
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| Where are the wild things? Messy fields like economics, environment, politics, and planning! |
Next, we will need to deal with complex dependencies and changing requirements. This calls for strong Management and Project Management skills.
It's clear to me why most startups focus on solving a small technical problem instead of one of these monsters: it's way easier and less risky, you dont need an all-star multidisciplinary team, and you can get started without the type of funding it would take to support such a team.
So there is this huge gap between problems a small specialized team can handle, and serious wicked problems. How do we bridge that gap? Lets look at that in a followup blog post.
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