Two Types of Problems

Most jobs require workers to solve problems. Usually, we are taught to solve problems with this process: Set a goal, develop and implement a plan to solve it, and then decide if the goal was accomplished. That leads to new goals and the process is repeated.

1) One begins with goals-- we decide what we want to accomplish and how we will accomplish it.

2) Next, one decides what actions will result in the goal being accomplished. In designing these actions, planners assume that they know what will happen if they take the actions they developed. All that needs to happen is that the actions be taken or implemented.

3) After the actions are taken, one checks to see if the goals were accomplished. If not, then the steps are taken to redesign the actions or to improve the implementation of the actions.

This model is built upon the assumption that one can accurately predict the effects of actions. This is sometimes described as cause and effects. Everything we observe has a single cause (or a small number of causes) and one can know those clearly. The objective-based problem solving works best for problems that are:

- definable-- We can clearly identify the cause of the problem

- understandable-- We know what will happen if it is solved.

- consensual-- Most everyone agrees that it should be solved.

Someone who has a stroke has a definable (there is a blood clot preventing blood from flowing to a part of the brain), understandable (that part of the brain without blood will die), and consensual (the patient and his family and the medical team all want to clear to blood clot). Scholars refer to such problems as tame. Tame does not mean that it is not complex or important, only that the course of action is known.

Another collection of problems, especially those in the social sciences and those that deal with social issues and problems, are very difficult to define and understand, and not everyone agrees what to do or even that the problem should be solved.

These problems are referred to as wicked problems, and because cause and effect are difficult to establish with these problems, solving them is difficult or even impossible.

Making people “smart” is a good example of a wicked problem. No one really knows what it means to be smart (and smart depends on the situation-- knowing about computers is not much help when you need a plumber!), we don’t know how to make people smart (what helps me learn may not help you) and we don’t even agree that we should make people smart.

The importance of goals and objectives in the process is a relatively recent idea to be added to planners’ and managers’ work; before the 1960’s most workers focused on making their work more efficient or “better” and not “what should my system do?” In this figure, we see a version of “outcomes-based action” that has been common in recent decades: