May 30, 2014
“Sour grapes” you say as you discuss with a friend the recent behavior of a mutual friend. When you say “sour grapes,” you both understand that you are not commenting upon the way the grapes taste, but about your friend’s actions. With this pithy remark – one of a class of words that help us think about what’s going on – you and your friend gain ground in understanding what has happened and why.
The same holds true when a friend, nowhere near a basketball court, says, “It’s a slam dunk!”
“Ah,” you answer. “Right!”
These phrases are examples of what philosopher Daniel Dennett has called “abstract thinking tools.” All words are to some degree tools for thinking, suggests Dennett, but some are more important than others. The best ones are those that “make…it easier to formulate hypotheses to test…recognize unnoticed patterns in the world, [and] help…the user look for important similarities” or differences.
In his book, I am a Strange Loop, Douglas Hofstadter offers a list of his favorite thinking tools:
- wild goose chase
- tackiness
- dirty tricks
- elbow grease
- feet of clay
- loose cannon
- crackpots
- lip service
- feedback
You undoubtedly have your own list. When you use one in a conversation – “loose cannon” for example – you and your friend are able to narrow the understanding gap that exists between you without extensive, even excessive, explanations, and move on with what you want to say about the issue.
“Wicked” is a Useful, Even Necessary, Thinking Tool
The Idea of Wicked Problems is an extremely useful “abstract thinking tool” for understanding and working on problems. You say “this is a wicked one,” and if your spouse, friend, or colleagues understand what you mean and agree with you, you can save hours of rancorous and often fruitless arguments about the nature of the problem and what to do about it; you are able to move on to the “real thing!”
Here are a few of the many advantages that are gained when everyone involved understands that the problem you are concerned with is a wicked one:
- You begin with the knowledge that what you are worrying about may not be a problem at all, but a “mess!” “Mess” is a technical term for an array of problems bundled together into a complicated, dynamic, confusing, ambiguous collection of issues, situations, and events. Effective government is a mess, as is excellence in education, adequate health care, functional families, drug addiction, inflation, a “bad” marriage, unemployment, global warming, corruption, and so on.
- “Managers [and leaders, parents, and friends] do not solve problems,” said organizational theorist Russell Ackoff, “they manage messes.” “Managing messes” is a very different challenge than solving problems.
- “Messes” do not get solved; they cannot even be worked on productively. “Messes” are too complex, nebulous, dynamic, confusing, and especially too political for any productive work to occur.
- How do people “manage messes?” By formulating problems that they can work on. Problems are formulated – brought into existence – when they are extracted from messes by people deciding what part of the mess they want to work on.(More discussion of “messes” will follow in later post.)
- The newly formulated problem will probably be a “wicked” one, though it may not be, and so you both understand there is no “correct” solution, or “true” answer to the wicked problem.
- What you are after instead of the “correct” solution (since there isn’t one) is the best one you can come up with.
- You all are aware that there are no experts or gurus who know what the best “solution” is for this problem.
- Since there are no experts to turn to, and in the beginning no one in the room has the answer, you have to Figure It Out (FIO) for yourselves. You are the ones you have been waiting for!
- Figuring It Out will be most successful when there is in the room a great and wide variety of experiences, viewpoints, and perspectives. The more diversity the better.
- You agree that the best way to understand the problem is to define it as a Gap between the present Here and Now and a future There and Then.
- Once the problem is defined as a gap between the present state and a future one, you next task is to define the obstacles that stand in the way of moving from Here to There.
- Dealing with obstacles that block movement is the work that needs to be done.
- Let Chaos Reign is the term Andy Grove uses in Only the Paranoid Survive for the beginning of the process in order to identify as many directions and alternatives as possible. It is a Divergent process, one that goes out in all directions.
- Rein in Chaos is what follows, a Convergent process of winnowing out the bad ideas and keeping the good ones.
- Divergence is easy: anything goes! Convergence upon the best ideas is a difficult test, requiring openness, honesty, risk-taking, conflict, confrontation, creativity, straight talk, and finally, consensus.
- You all understand that everyone in the room will have some useful opinions and suggestions and some that are not helpful. In the beginning, however, no one knows what they are and who has them. An early challenge is to listen for understanding to everyone before moving to support one idea or another.
- When you are convinced that someone’s idea is better that yours, you go with him or her.
- What you mean by “solution” is this: you end up with an “actionable plan,” one that allows you to communicate widely what needs to be done, that leads to the allocation of resources, the mobilization of efforts, and to the organization of efforts and the assignment of responsibilities .
- Even with an “actionable plan” in place, you understand that you have not arrived at a permanent fix or solution. Whatever plan you devise and implement does not solve the problem. All “solutions” to wicked problems are temporary arrangements that must be revisited as times, people and conditions change.
- You resist taking any actions until you have a shared and agreed upon understand of what the problem is.
- Because your problem is wicked, you know that it will never be fully over. As the Nike ad says, “There is no finish line.” You finish when you have done the best you can do under the circumstances, or when you run out of time or resources.
- Execution of the “actionable plan” is essential. Otherwise, you have been engaged in nothing more than an intellectual exercise.
- Execution of an actionable plan is itself a wicked problem.
- When you are involved in the execution of the action plan, you are also activating the Law of Unintended Consequences. In addition to your goals and objectives, you are also putting in place “solutions” that you did not plan on or expect. The consequences of your actions that may make things worse. A continuing part of your work is to look for the unintended consequences of doing “good” and find and address those results and outcomes that may make things “bad.”
Understanding from the beginning that you are about to work on a wicked problem gives you a huge advantage. You are able to bypass much of the confusion and controversy that is typical of beginning attempts to work on complicated problems. Even before getting to the actual problem, many people get bogged down in one misunderstanding after another which, after much emotional pain and frustration, yield very little. They often founder in the shallows before ever getting to the deep water. Starting with the realization that what you have before you is a wicked problem is an effective and productive shortcut.
Philip Roth’s book, Portnoy’s Complaint, is one continuous monologue of over 300 pages as Alexander Portnoy explains to his psychiatrist, Dr. Spielvogel, all the complaints and complications of his life. Finally, at the end of the novel, understanding at last the nature of Portnoy’s complaint, Dr. Spielvogel utters his first and only words: “Now, vee may perhaps to begin, Yes?”
When you come to the table with a wicked problem, and everyone understands what this means, you don’t have to spend the equivalent of 300 pages trying to understand what it is you are faced with. You are able “to cut to the chase,” and say as did Dr. Spielvogel: “Now, vee may perhaps to begin. Yes?” And go to work.
“Wicked”: A thinking and acting tool
Summary:
Phrases such as “sour grapes” and “It’s a slam dunk” easily define the actions that they are trying to express. They are considered “abstract thinking tools”, and make it easy to narrow the understanding of the GAP that exists. “Wicked” is a useful and necessary thinking tool to help you better UNDERSTAND, define, and work on PROBLEMS.
Understanding your problem from the beginning is a huge advantage and is also an effective and productive shortcut to working towards a solution or to simply working on it in an effective manner. After CLEARLY understanding the situation, only then can you begin taking ACTION.
The advantages and necessities of everyone involved CLEARLY understanding that the problem is WICKED:
understanding that it can be “messy”, complicated and confusing
“managing messes” is different than solving problems
“messes” don’t have solutions, they can only be worked on
work on the parts of a problem that are able to manage
there is no “correct” solution
look for the “best” solution
there are no wicked experts
FIO-Figure it out
the more diversity the better
define the GAP between present and future
define the obstacles
dealing with obstacles
process needs chaos int he beginning (divergent)
convergent process occurs
divergent=easy/ convergent=difficult
Listen and understand
go with the best idea, even if it isn’t yours
solution= “actionable plan”
“actionable plan”= not permanent solution
understand before taking action
there is never a finish line
execution of “actionable plan”=crucial
execution can be wicked
activating the law of unintended consequences
Analysis:
Clearly understanding your problem before you take action is critical to taming wicked problems. Engaging problems using an advanced leadership framework can also be essential to the process. Defining the GAP, clearly understanding the processes, and taking a collaborative action is possible with the right thinking tools. Getting “the right people on the bus, and the wrong people off”, will help the action plan to be successful.
Finding order, ownership, meaning, and membership is essential to the process.
ORDER: define, give structure to, and figure out the processes in order to take action
OWNERSHIP: understand how and why it relates to you personally, through your responsibilities, or through your values, in order to take possession of a situation and take action (OWN IT)
MEANING: find the purpose, value, importance, and significance of the situation, in order to understand your connection to the problem
MEMBERSHIP: understand who else “owns” the issue (STAKEHOLDERS)
This process also should include your ability to “go meta” with your thinking, and be able to STOP, EVALUATE, and TAKE ACTIONS to change what needs to be changed. Every day of our lives we are problem solving, and understanding the WICKED PROBLEMS from the tame, and knowing that you must TAKE ACTION in order to get anywhere, will help you successfully deal with this important problems and help you be able to make a difference in your life and learn from every experience.
Being a leader requires you to continuously problem-solve and “manage messes”, and it also requires you to step back regularly and check not only yourself but the situations that you are dealing with. “Going meta”, and teaching yourself how to STOP and really look at how you are thinking, reasoning and talking, whether it be at yourself or at a problem that you are dealing with, is essential to good leadership.
“Wicked” A Thinking and Acting Tool / Taming the wicked PRoblems (OOMM)
Knowing you have a Wicked problem is useful and necessary thinking tool.
Having the knowledge to know what a wicked problem is causes less headaches and frustration with spouse, friends and colleagues. The less time you spend arguing about the problem could be used to come up with way to close the gap and move forward.
(OOMM)
Ownership: recognize that something needs to be done. “It becomes mine not theirs.”
Order: the mess needs to be formulated defined and given structure made into something tangible.
Meaning: issue or situation I have come to care about fits into a framework of purpose values importance and significance
Membership: How can I get ” buy in” from them and create ownership. Who cares? Who will be affected? Who knows? Who can? Who Will?
12 Angry Men: “Going Meta”
The example of 12 angry men is an example of going Meta. This jury stepped back and looked at everything through different eyes and different thought processes to come to a consensus. H. Fonda did a great job of taking ownership and bringing order to the group. He made them think of all the possibilites that could have happened and couldn’t have happened to make the jury process have meaning. H Fonda made the group engage and created ownership for the boys life that was at stake. This is a example of the OOMM and “Going Meta”
In the example of 12 angry men, most of the men didn’t realize they were dealing with a wicked problem. Henry Fonda brought order,ownership,meaning and membership to the problem. Henry Fonda showed great leadership and managed the wicked problem. He made the group step back and look at how they were thinking and talking about the problem using “Going Meta” This brought clarity to the problem and consensus from the group in the end. I hope to use all of these techniques in the future to deal with personal and professional problems.
“Wicked:” A Thinking and Acting Tool
Madison McCue
Lead/Mgmt Change
“All words to some degree tools for thinking, suggests Dennett, but some are more important than others” (J Bentley, May 2014)
Those that may you formulate make connections to better under the situation at hand are going to be more important.
Douglas Hofstadter’s list of his favorite thinking tools:
– Wild goose chase
– Tackiness
– Dirty tricks
– Elbow grease
– Feet of clay
– Loose cannon
– Crackpots
– Lip service
– Feedback (J Bentley, May 2014)
These phrases and others that may be similar give on the ability to understand and express the issue without extensive or excessive explanations. (J Bentley, May 2014)
Speaking in terms of “Wicked” problems is should just be looked at as another “thinking tool”.
If all of those that are involved in addressing the messes and therefore the problems both wicked & tame are familiar with these terms and frame work it will reduce a lot of time and effort into formulating what the problem is and how to address the issue.
Taming 1: OOMM; Bridge/Close; Ownership; Actionable
“Bridge the GAP”
– Dialogue
– Understanding others point of view
– Not saying that they are right or wrong but where they are coming from
– Addressing that there are multiple points of view
“Close the GAP”
1. Where we are and where we want to be
2. Right people on the bus
– Increase diversity – different perspectives
– Formulate the Problem/Define the GAP
– Make it actionable
– Create an action plan
– Implement it
– EWS
“Advanced Leadership offers”
– Ownership (O)
Taking responsibility. It is now “mine” and not “theirs”.
– Order (O)
“The “MESS” needs to be formulated, defined, given structure, made into something we can get our arms around.
– Meaning (M)
“The issue or situation I have some to care about fits into framework purpose, values, importance, & significance.” Where the connection of why you know own it stems from.
– Membership (M)
“Who else should “own” the issue and come to care about it?”
– Who cares?
– Who will be affected?
– Who knows?
– Who can?
– Who will?
“Who do I ENGAGE, INVOLVE, RECRUI, and ENLIST them?”
Analysis
It is extremely important that when we are attempting to “bridge the gap” and address OOMM that everyone that is involved understands the thinking tools at hand. These tools can be as simple as everyone knowing what a “wicked” problem is to knowing that it is best addressed by a GAP analysis (where are we now and where do we want to be). With everyone that is involved knowing this framework and terminology it takes out a lot of preliminary stress and issues that would otherwise have to be resolved be for the “mess” could even be addressed.