Wicked Problem Quotes

My Google Alerts occasionally provide interesting and sometimes useful information regarding what others are thinking regarding Wicked Problems and other selected topics. Wicked Problems as involving enigmas seems to be in the collective consciousness these days.

In a blog posting on invasive species, Ioannis Petrus writes:

We push and pull at solutions and argue over definitions because invasive species are a type of wicked problem. When we try to solve the problem we find ourselves facing what should have been suspect unintended unforeseen consequences. Wicked problems have numerous intervention points, have consequences difficult to envision, and are surrounded by a dynamic uncertainty wrapped in a moving frontier of knowledge.

Perhaps this sentence echo's Winston Churchill's famous (in some quarters) quote about the Soviet Union:

Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.

Regardless,  I couldn't agree more with Petrus'  characterization of  Wicked Problems.

Just after I finished a first draft of this blogicle, the alerts delivered a pointer to Harvey  Schachter's blogicle on Wicked Problems and corporate strategy:

STRATEGY: When an issue is disguised as a riddle, wrapped in an enigma

It's known as a wicked problem - and it's increasingly common in a complex business environment

Wicked problems are devilishly complex: They involve many stakeholders, change with every attempt you make to address them, and have no precedent on which to base your attack.

Schachter goes on to discuss some practical advice.