#wickedProblems

đŸ«§ socialcoding..smallcircles@social.coop
2025-12-20

In our quest to solve #ClimateChange most people go no further in root cause analysis than "reduce carbon emissions".

I've always taken it up a notch on the stepping stones of #WickedProblems to say its #Hypercapitalism we must tackle.

Now deeper insight gleans. We 'deserve' these problems. Simply because we're incapable to do better at large scale. But moreover we fall short at smallest scale:

We're so busy living & world-improving that we lost ability to listen and learn from each other. 👋

Adrian SegarASegar
2025-12-18

Why should you hire curious people? Because the future of work belongs to the neo-generalist. And neo-generalists are intensely curious!

conferencesthatwork.com/index.

hire curious people: an illustration displaying fifteen icons representing curiosity
Coach Pāáč‡ini Âźpaninid@mastodon.world
2025-10-21

@wjmaggos

Yes, that is part of the human condition.

Using technology to solve social challenges, there lie #WickedProblems

Adrian SegarASegar
2025-09-06

Why should you hire curious people? Because the future of work belongs to the neo-generalist. And neo-generalists are intensely curious!

conferencesthatwork.com/index.

hire curious people: an illustration displaying fifteen icons representing curiosity
2025-08-13

Morning Folks. I shared photos of it yesterday, but I talked about my accidental black light and also a bit of a progress update on my Elementalist Brand character in #PathOFExile, as well as #WickedProblems by Max Gladstone, starting to get really freaking good.

aggronaut.com/2025/08/13/accid

#ARPG #MMO #MMORPG #VideoGames #Games #Gaming #books #bookstadon #Blaugust

Adrian SegarASegar
2025-07-09

Why should you hire curious people? Because the future of work belongs to the neo-generalist. And neo-generalists are intensely curious!

conferencesthatwork.com/index.

hire curious people: an illustration displaying fifteen icons representing curiosity
Coach Pāáč‡ini Âźpaninid@mastodon.world
2025-06-26

“Turns out, there are no ethical AI companies. What I found instead was a hierarchy of harm where the question isn’t who’s good — it’s who sucks least.”

#WickedProblems

The image features a digital article preview on a medium.com page. The background is a blurred gradient of dark blue and orange hues. The article title, "I Love Generative AI and Hate the Companies Building It," is prominently displayed in bold black text. Below the title, the author is credited as "By ChatGPT, 3rd most evil," with the author's name, Christina Wodtke, and the Medium logo at the bottom. The article is indicated to be a 27-minute read. The URL "cwodtke.medium.com" is visible on the right side of the article preview.
Coach Pāáč‡ini Âźpaninid@mastodon.world
2025-05-28

The future answers to current problems are in history books.

#DeadTreesHealSouls #history #futurism #WickedProblems

2025-05-16

@haiku_shelf
Die meisten gesellschaftlich relevanten Probleme sind bösartig aka #wickedProblems (Horst rittel). Es gibt also kein eindeutiges richtig und falsch. ZusĂ€tzlich erschweren Machtunterschiede und unterschiedliche Ressourcen eine Lösung. Rittel plĂ€diert fĂŒr #Beteiligung und #MehrdimensionalitĂ€t. M.E muss diese Beteiligung kollektiv (#Vereine #Gewerkschaften #NGOs, #BĂŒrgerrĂ€te) "erzwungen" werden. Dann steigt auch das #Gemeinwohl der politischen Lösungen.
e-genius.at/mooc/smart-cities-

Adrian SegarASegar
2025-05-12

Why should you hire curious people? Because the future of work belongs to the neo-generalist. And neo-generalists are intensely curious!

conferencesthatwork.com/index.

hire curious people: an illustration displaying fifteen icons representing curiosity
Coalition for Networked Infocni
2025-04-30

The report, Meeting the Climate Emergency: University Information Infrastructure for Researching Wicked Problems from CNI Senior Scholar Donald Waters, underscores the urgency and complexity of climate change and other that impede human flourishing and offers concrete steps by which universities could adapt their research infrastructure to address these problems more effectively.

Read it at: doi.org/10.56561/LCOA2799

2025-03-15

What is a complex problem?

What is a complex problem and what do we need to tackle it?

Problems can be simple or complex.

Simple problems have a clear first step, a known answer, and steps you can follow to get the answer.

Complex problems do not have a single right answer.

They have many possible answers or no answer at all.

What makes complex problems really hard is that they can change over time.

They have lots of different pieces that connect in unexpected ways.

When you try to solve them, one piece changes another piece, which changes another piece.

It is hard to see all the effects of your actions.

When you do something to help, later on the problem might get worse anyway.

You have to keep adapting your ideas.

To solve complex problems, you need to be able to:

  • Think about all the puzzle pieces and how they fit, even when you do not know what they all are.
  • Come up with plans and change them when parts of the problem change.
  • Think back on your problem solving to get better for next time.

The most important things are being flexible, watching how every change affects other things, and learning from experience.

Image: The Geneva Learning Foundation Collection © 2024

References

  1. Buchanan, R., 1992. Wicked problems in design thinking. Design issues 5–21.
  2. Camillus, J.C., 2008. Strategy as a wicked problem. Harvard business review 86, 98.
  3. Joksimovic, S., Ifenthaler, D., Marrone, R., De Laat, M., Siemens, G., 2023. Opportunities of artificial intelligence for supporting complex problem-solving: Findings from a scoping review. Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence 4, 100138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.caeai.2023.100138
  4. Rittel, H.W., Webber, M.M., 1973. Dilemmas in a general theory of planning. Policy sciences 4, 155–169.

#complexLearning #complexProblems #learningStrategy #pedagogy #wickedProblems

Complex problems
Coalition for Networked Infocni
2025-03-14

📱 New Report Release: "Meeting the Climate Emergency: University Information Infrastructure for Researching Wicked Problems" from CNI Senior Scholar Donald Waters

How can research universities tackle "" like climate change? This report explores how universities can adapt their research infrastructure—engaging beyond STEM and leveraging campus information specialists—to better support interdisciplinary solutions.

Read more: doi.org/10.56561/LCOA2799

Graphic that says: Meeting the Climate
Emergency: University
Information Infrastructure for
Researching Wicked Problems
A CNI Senior Scholar Report
Donald J. Waters
Coach Pāáč‡ini Âźpaninid@mastodon.world
2025-03-11

Christian Sarkar and Philip Kotler #ecosystem of #WickedProblems

The image is a diagram titled "The Ecosystem of Wicked Problems," created by Christian Sarkar and Philip Kotler in 2019. It depicts various interconnected issues and factors, all related by arrows.

The central element is "Income Inequality," which is connected to other problems like "War," "Extremism," "Racism," "Climate Events," "Crime," and "Poverty."

Other main points in the image include "Inherited Wealth," "Excessive CEO Pay," "Profit Maximization," "Outsourced Jobs," "Lobbying," "Privatization," "Tax Avoidance," "Rising Debt," "Deregulation," and "Pollution."

Specific factors are listed, such as "Stock Buybacks," "Cost Cutting," "Low Wages," "Robot Labor," "Union Busting," "Campaign Contributions," "Cuts in Government Spending," "Underinvestment in Public Services," "Lack of Education," "Disease," and "Refugees."

Also, several large entities are named, including "Big Oil," "Big Pharma," "Big Banks," "Big Prison," "Big Tech," "Big Guns," "Big Church," and "Big Jail."
2025-02-21

Wicked problems are ill-defined & lack clear solutions, unlike tame problems. If these are foreign ideas, please look them up. Seriously. You can’t lead without knowing the difference. #WickedProblems #TameProblems #Education

Coach Pāáč‡ini Âźpaninid@mastodon.world
2025-02-04

@dugglebutt

When it comes to #WickedProblems, there are no solutions, just ways to make them less worse.

2018-01-23

What is the difference between a wicked problem and a grand challenge?

The management concepts of wicked problems and grand challenges are closely related but have some key distinctions:

Similarities

Both wicked problems and grand challenges refer to complex, systemic issues that are difficult to solve and have far-reaching societal impacts. They share several characteristics:

  • Complexity and interconnectedness with other problems
  • No clear or definitive solutions
  • Require collaborative efforts from diverse stakeholders
  • Often global or multi-regional in scope
  • Involve uncertainty and changing requirements

Distinctions

While closely related, there are some nuanced differences:

Scope and framing

  • Wicked problems tend to be framed more negatively as intractable issues
  • Grand challenges are often framed more positively as ambitious goals to be tackled

Solution approach

  • Wicked problems are seen as having no definitive solution, only better or worse approaches
  • Grand challenges imply the possibility of significant progress or breakthroughs, even if not fully “solved”

Origin and usage

  • Wicked problems originated in social planning literature in the 1960s-70s
  • Grand challenges gained prominence more recently, especially in management literature since the 2010s

Relationship

Many scholars view grand challenges as a subset or reframing of wicked problems. Grand challenges can be seen as large-scale wicked problems that have been formulated into more actionable goals. The grand challenges framing aims to mobilize collaborative efforts to make progress on wicked problems, even if they cannot be fully solved.

Both concepts highlight the need for:

  • Interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches
  • Adaptive and flexible strategies
  • Consideration of diverse stakeholder perspectives
  • Acceptance of uncertainty and continuous learning

Understanding both wicked problems and grand challenges can help managers and policymakers develop more effective approaches to complex societal issues. The grand challenges framing, in particular, may help motivate action and innovation in addressing wicked problems that might otherwise seem insurmountable.

References

Daar, A.S. et al. (2018) ‘Grand challenges in humanitarian aid’, Nature, 559(7713), pp. 169–173. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-05642-8.

Gariel, C. and Bartel-Radic, A. (2024) ‘Tidying Up the Concept of Grand Challenges: A Bibliometric Analysis’, M@n@gement, 27(S1), pp. 58–79. Available at: https://doi.org/10.37725/mgmt.2024.8884.

Rittel, H.W. and Webber, M.M. (1973) ‘Dilemmas in a general theory of planning’, Policy sciences, 4(2), pp. 155–169. Available at: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/01v4t1c9.

Image: The Geneva Learning Foundation Collection © 2025

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#criticalThinking #globalHealth #grandChallenges #HorstWJRitten #humanitarianAid #MelvinMWebber #planning #problemSolving #wickedProblems

What is the difference between a wicked problem and a grand challenge
Adrian SegarASegar
2025-01-07

Why should you hire curious people? Because the future of work belongs to the neo-generalist. And neo-generalists are intensely curious!

conferencesthatwork.com/index.

hire curious people: an illustration displaying fifteen icons representing curiosity

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