Monday, February 17, 2014

Wicked Problem



Wicked problems are fundamentally different from big challenges or large problems. Manhattan project, placing man on moon, and Building a super refinery (e.g. Jamnagar) – are large problems, but not wicked.
Many such large problems have – i) A clear beginning and end; ii) Goal; and iii) A clear cut path to be discovered to the solution
WICKED problems are unlike these. Examples are – Climate Change, Extreme poverty, Environmental degradation and Corruption.  Nearer home problem of Mumbai commuting is Wicked. These problems have – i) No unique and clear solution; ii) Complex and Ambiguous statement (goal is farther off as problem statement itself is tough); and iii) Diverse science and points of view.

Digital deluge - WICKED problem

Individuals or organizations are facing uncontrollable deluge of digital contents. Embedded in this deluge are the data, interpretation, inference and knowledge - created. 
Treating it as a simple problem = providing more servers and storage
Considering it as a large problem = implement a document management system
BUT
It is WICKED
What should the CIO do?
Refer: John Kao, Innovation Nation.

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