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White Paper Series ‐ Helping Distressed Communities
Working Paper
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
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7. Every wicked problem is essentially unique
8. Every wicked problem can be considered to be a symptom of another problem
9. The existence of a discrepancy representing a wicked problem can be explained in numerous
ways. The choice of explanation determines the nature of the problem’s resolution
10. The planner has no right to be wrong
Robert E. Horn calls these problems “social messes”. According to Horn “Social messes are those
problems about which different people have very different perceptions and values concerning their
nature, their causes, their boundaries, and their solutions. They are the problems that bring out two or
more points of view from the first mention of them” (Horn n.d.). According to Horn social messes
are more than complicated and complex. They are ambiguous.
contain considerable uncertainty – even as to what the conditions are, let alone what the
appropriate actions might be
are bounded by great constraints and are tightly interconnected, economically, socially,
politically, technologically
are seen differently from different points of view, and quite different worldviews
contain many value conflicts
are often a‐logical or illogical
These problems are difficult to solve because of the lack of consensus on not only how to solve them but
also on how to define them, what is the actual problem versus the symptoms of another problem. As an
example, the downturn of the economy has raised many questions. But there is no consensus on what
the actual problem is. Is the problem, lack of money flow in economy, raising cost of doing business,
unemployment, outsourcing, lack of entrepreneurship , or are all these a symptom of a bigger problem
that is still to be found and defined.
1.2 Rural Development
Rural is a word used to describe the regions that have no immediate connectivity to a large city or town
and are sometimes located in regions with no or little amenities available to the urban metro cities like
public transportation, shopping malls, recreational parks, etc. Rural America has faced the problems of
declining population, declining workforce and jobs, growing older population, and health care needs.
But on the other hand, rural America is also witnessing a huge influx of broad band network services,
making it possible to connect to any part of the world virtually a reality.
Rural development has been defined as “Rural development in general is used to denote the actions and
initiatives taken to improve the standard of living in non‐urban neighborhoods, countryside, and
remote villages. These communities can be exemplified with a low ratio of inhabitants to open
space. Agricultural activities may be prominent in this case whereas economic activities would relate to
the primary sector, production of foodstuffs and raw materials” (Wikipedia n.d.).
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Further, Rural development actions have been defined in Wikipedia as “Rural development actions
mostly aim at the social and economic development of the areas. These programs are usually top‐down
from the local or regional authorities, regional development agencies, NGOs, national governments or
international development organizations. But then, local populations can also bring about endogenous
initiatives for development. The term is not limited to the issues for developing countries. In fact many
of the developed countries have very active rural development programs. The main aim of the rural
government policy is to develop the undeveloped villages.
1.3 Characteristics of rural development – relate it to wicked problems
The characteristics of the wicked problems as defined above in section 1.1 can be appropriately applied
to rural development problems. The characteristics of wicked problems as relevant to the realm of rural
development are discussed below.
1. Ambiguous definition
The definition of the rural development varies depending on who you ask as different stake
holders have different views of what the problem is. In our experience in the NCRPC project we
observed that different stake holders define same thing differently. E.g. for the economic
development community the most important issue is to bring money into the community and
help local development, for local banks it is to make profitable loans, for the business owners it
is to get sufficient well trained workers. Similarly, when asked about how they would define
their region, all three stake holder groups varied in their definition of the region as shown in the
figure below (to be added). This is one of the characteristic of wicked problems that rural
development exhibits.
2. The no stopping rule
There is no single point that can be called as a cut off point or a final point of the problem
solution. In realm of rural development, the problem solving process ends when the resources
end and starts again with new resources. Since the problem is continually evolving and
mutating, there is no objective solution to the problem. What might seem to be a good solution
at a point in time may become worthless after some time. Since the problem is ongoing with
new factors emerging with time, it becomes difficult to layout a cut off point for the problem
solution.
3. Solutions not true‐or‐false, but good‐or‐bad.
The solution for rural development will vary by the stake holder as everyone holds different
views and opinions of what is the solution and if it is the right solution. Rural development is a
big puzzle with a lot of individual pieces and one solution might not address all those pieces at
the same time. As such any given solution to the problem is not the right or wrong solution but
varies across the scale of good and bad depending on the solution itself.
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4. No immediate and no ultimate test of a solution
The solution varies by region and unique characteristics that define the region along with the
knowledge and experience of the regional leaders involved with the process of solving the
problem. Any solution suggested for helping in rural development will be a process based
approach that will take time to implement and longer to start showing results. There is no
ultimate test of the solution as the problem is never defined the same way. Benchmarks could
be used to make comparisons but not as an evaluation criteria.
5. One‐ shot operation
Every solution to a rural development problem is a “one‐shot operation”; because there is no
opportunity to learn by trial‐and‐error, every attempt counts significantly. Once a project is
implemented, it is done. The learning from that project can be used to improve upon or frame a
new project but there is no undoing of the project itself. Since rural development problems
involve stake holders, local government and the local community to a great extent, every
attempt is watched carefully and counts significantly in terms of the finances, time and interest
of the community involved.
6. Unique
Every region is essentially unique and so is the rural development problem in the region. Every
region is characterized by a unique set of regional assets, opportunities and weaknesses and
hence will have a different definition of the problem.
7. Symptom not a problem
Rural development might be a symptom of another bigger problem like changing economic
assumptions, lack of specialized networks in the region, lack of young qualified workers in the
region, declining population base, and lack on connectivity. Attempts to solve the problem
might just end up as a process of revealing new underlying problems.
8. Social mess
Rural development is a complex problem with no unique correct view of the problem and they
are marked by political, economic and ideological constraints making them fit well into the
definition of social mess. Moreover, rural development also shows other characteristics of the
social messes like great resistance to change, uncertain or missing data, difficult to calculate
risks involved, many possible interventions and a‐logical or illogical multi‐valued showing results
to be far higher than they are. Another unique character of social mess that rural development
posses is that often the problem solver is out of contact with the current problems and solutions
due to their limited field of vision, they really are not aware of what is actually happening in the
outside world because they are not readily connected outside of their immediate community.
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Approaches to solve wicked problems
Much research has been done and many techniques have been developed to tackle wicked problems,
some of these techniques are:
Issue‐Based Information System (IBIS) ‐ IBIS is an argumentation based approach to tackle wicked
problems developed by Werner Kunz and Horst Rittel. IBIS method is a way of finding solutions for
complex or ill‐defined problems that Rittel characterized as ‘wicked’ problems. Issue‐Based Information
Systems (IBIS) are meant to support coordination and planning of political decision processes. IBIS
guides the identification, structuring, and settling of issues raised by problem‐solving groups, and
provides information pertinent to the discourse. It is linked to conventional documentation systems but
also activates other sources. Elements of the system are topics, issues, questions of fact, positions,
arguments, and model problems. The logic of issues, the subsystems of IBIS, and their rules of operation
are outlined. Three manually operated versions of IBIS are in experimental operation by governmental
agencies; computerization of system operations is in preparation (Kunz and Rittel 1970).
Sense making approach ‐ Sense‐Making is an approach to thinking about and implementing
communication research and practice and the design of communication‐based systems and activities. It
consists of a set of philosophical assumptions, substantive propositions, methodological framings, and
methods (Darvin 2005). It is a collaborative process of creating shared awareness and understanding out
of different individuals' perspectives and varied interests (Wikipedia n.d.).
Bibliography
Darvin, Brenda. Sense‐Making Methodology Site. May 12, 2005. http://communication.sbs.ohio‐
state.edu/sense‐making/ (accessed July 2010).
Horn, Robert E. Mess Map Table of Contents.
http://www.stanford.edu/~rhorn/a/kmap/mess/tocMessMaps.html (accessed June 17, 2010).
Kunz, Werner, and Horst W. J. Rittel. "Issues as elements of information systems." Working paper #131.
Institut fur Grundlagen der Ylanung I.A. University of Stuttgart, 1970.
Rittel, Horst W. J., and Melvin M. Webber. "Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning." Policy Science,
no. 4 (1973): 155‐169.
Wikipedia. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rural_development.
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