rural development as a wicked problem

Rough Draft, not for circulation 1 | P a g e White Paper Series ‐ Helping Distressed Communities Rural Development a s a Wicked Problem AdvancedManufacturingInstitute WorkingPaper Objective: This white paper defines wicked problems and attempts to apply the concept to the realm of rural development. The paper also briefly discusses the different approaches to solve these problems. 1.1 Wicked Problems A wicked problem is defined as a problem that is difficult to solve because of its nature. Its not linear, hence most traditional problem solving methods and techniques don’t work. The more you try to solve it, the more it gets complicated. Sometimes, it results in a new definition for the problem itself. It is difficult to find a solution for such a problem because there is no clear objective to achieve or issue to solve. Trial and error methods work in most of these because of the lack of precise definition of the problem itself. The term ‘wicked problem’ was first used by Horst Rittel and Melvin Webber in their paper ‘Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning’ in 1973 (Rittel and Webber 1973). They used this term to describe a unique set of problems that would not fit into the definition of a simple or a complex problem and were not “tame problems”. The difference being the way the problem itself is defined. A simple problem is simple, the problem is known and the solution is known. A complex problem is the one where you know the problem and can find a solution. On the other hand, a wicked problem is one where it is difficult to find a solution because there is no set definition of the problem itself. They are ambiguous and very social in nature; involve a lot of people and is very little consensus on how to define the problem. They are characterized as being societal, ill‐defined, the ones that are never solved but re‐solved again and again (Rittel and Webber 1973). Rittel and Webber define wicked problems based on ten characteristics (Rittel and Webber 1973) 1. There is no definitive formulation of a wicked problem 2. Wicked problems have no stopping rule 3. Solutions to wicked problems are not true‐or‐false, but good‐or‐bad 4. There is no immediate and no ultimate test of a solution to a wicked problem 5. 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 6. 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

rural development as a wicked problem

Documents