Wicked Problems

Commonly attributed to Horst Rittel and Melvin Webber, the concept of wicked problems was first used to describe those problems facing social planners (e.g., city planners who must anticipate and plan for a variety of outcomes and contingencies) that are particularly complex in contrast to easier to define and better behaved problems with which scientists dealt. Terming the latter tame problems, Rittel and Webber argued such problems are clearly defined, solvable, and have few or no consequences for social systems. In contrast, urban planners contend with wicked problems, which are inherently ill-defined, largely intractable and for which implementation of provisional solutions has significant consequences for social systems. Although the concept originated in the planning literature in the 1960s, there is a resurgent interest in use and development of the idea in a wide range of fields and in the social sciences, particularly in education. This entry focuses on the original formulation of wicked problems in the context of planning, but the reader likely can easily translate the characteristics of wicked problems into educational research and program evaluation examples.

Rittel and Webber delineate 10 distinguishing characteristics of wicked problems: (1) no definitive formulation; (2) no criteria for determining when the problem has been solved, in other words, a planner can always attempt to do better; (3) solutions are not true or false, rather, they are better or worse; (4) no immediate or ultimate tests for solutions to a wicked problem; (5) each implemented solution is consequential; (6) an exhaustive set of solutions cannot be enumerated because wicked problems are ill-defined; (7) each wicked problem is unique; (8) each wicked problem is generated from and generates new problems; (9) numerous [Page 1813]explanations can be given for wicked problems and each explanation determines how the problem is resolved; and (10) the planner has no right to be wrong.

These characteristics reflect Rittel and Webber’s efforts to provide an alternative to the dominant linear stepwise approaches to social problem solving. The concept of wicked problems arose out of concerns about the ability of professionals to address complex social problems in the planning and policy arenas. Informed by a context of social upheaval and racial tension of the 1960s, Rittel and Webber were not simply concerned with questions of how planners (and researchers) define, and thus, solve problems. Centering on questions of equity, they emphasized the need for planners to inquire into divergent values and interests brought to bear on social problems, as well as the potential consequences of various solutions for different vested communities. This approach diverged from prior work in the science of design and design thinking, which tended to view problems as definable and solvable through decontextualized study and rational planning.

The predominant mode of planning in the 20th century suggested that complex social problems needed to be reduced to manageable components where rational planning might be better applied. However, according to Rittel, most problems of design are wicked problems in that there is a high degree of complexity, uncertainty, and divergence of values involved in the social policy realms. The idea of wicked problems has since been taken up by those attempting to understand problems in various disciplines including architecture, public management, education, and health policy, to name a few. In part, the indeterminacy of wicked problems has to do with the infinite range of subjects to which it may be applied. The distinguishing characteristics presented earlier were meant to help planners in the identification and resolution of wicked problems. However, this may have limited use of the concept to solely a descriptive tool. Some suggest that wicked problems may be more productively utilized when used as a tool toward inquiry. In the field of education, those interested in management and administration have taken up the wicked problem as one way to advance greater understanding and further inquiry where problems appear or are intractable.

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