

A problem whose solution requires a great number of people to change their mindsets and behavior is likely to be a wicked problem. Wicked problems have no given alternative solutions.Ĭlassic examples of wicked problems include economic, environmental, and political issues.Every solution to a wicked problem is a "one shot operation".Every wicked problem is essentially novel and unique.Solutions to wicked problems are not right or wrong.The problem is not understood until after the formulation of a solution.The social planner has no right to be wrong (i.e., planners are liable for the consequences of the actions they generate).Ĭonklin later generalized the concept of problem wickedness to areas other than planning and policy Conklin's defining characteristics are:.The choice of explanation determines the nature of the problem's resolution. The existence of a discrepancy representing a wicked problem can be explained in numerous ways.Every wicked problem can be considered to be a symptom of another problem.

Every wicked problem is essentially unique.Wicked problems do not have an enumerable (or an exhaustively describable) set of potential solutions, nor is there a well-described set of permissible operations that may be incorporated into the plan.
#Issues synonym trial
Every solution to a wicked problem is a "one-shot operation" because there is no opportunity to learn by trial and error, every attempt counts significantly.There is no immediate and no ultimate test of a solution to a wicked problem.Solutions to wicked problems are not true-or-false, but better or worse.There is no definitive formulation of a wicked problem.Rittel and Webber's 1973 formulation of wicked problems in social policy planning specified ten characteristics: Webber formally described the concept of wicked problems in a 1973 treatise, contrasting "wicked" problems with relatively "tame", soluble problems in mathematics, chess, or puzzle solving. Churchman discussed the moral responsibility of operations research "to inform the manager in what respect our 'solutions' have failed to tame his wicked problems." Rittel and Melvin M. West Churchman in a guest editorial Churchman wrote in the journal Management Science, either repeating his own coinage or responding to a previous use of the term by Horst Rittel-the origin is uncertain.

Its modern sense was introduced in 1967 by C. The phrase was originally used in social planning. Due to their complexity, wicked problems are often characterized by organized irresponsibility. Moreover, because of complex interdependencies, the effort to solve one aspect of a wicked problem may reveal or create other problems. Another definition is "a problem whose social complexity means that it has no determinable stopping point". It refers to an idea or problem that cannot be fixed, where there is no single solution to the problem and "wicked" denotes resistance to resolution, rather than evil. In planning and policy, a wicked problem is a problem that is difficult or impossible to solve because of incomplete, contradictory, and changing requirements that are often difficult to recognize. Problem that is difficult or impossible to solve
