Wicked problems are complex and difficult to solve due to incomplete knowledge, conflicting interests, and unpredictable environments. Unlike tame problems that can be solved using existing methods, solving wicked problems defies simple solutions. However, design thinking offers an iterative and co-creative approach to solving wicked problems by incorporating experimentation and feedback.

A “wicked problem” is an idea that seeks to differentiate between different kinds of problems and thereby what approaches to them might be effective and appropriate. A wicked problem is a distinction in contrast to “tame problems” and describes a category of complex and ill-defined problems that are difficult or potentially impossible to solve because of incomplete or contradictory knowledge, multiple stakeholders with conflicting values and interests and uncertain, dynamic, and unpredictable behaviors and environments. 

The term “wicked problem” is often used to describe problems from domains like environmental management, social policy, or urban planning which are characterized by no clear problem definition, no optimal solution, and no objectively right or wrong answers. 

A tame problem can be solved by applying existing knowledge and techniques. “X + 2 = 4” is a clearly defined problem that immediately invokes a whole set of unambiguous procedures to solve it that will result in an objectively true answer. A tame problem is well suited to rational, rigid, and scientific methods.

A wicked problem on the other hand is defined by complexity, uncertainty, uniqueness, and incompleteness. 

It is worth pausing to form a distinction between complexity and complicatedness. Complex systems have interacting parts that exhibit emergent properties, non-linear behavior, and sensitivity to initial conditions. Ecosystems, economies, and brains are complex. A complicated system, meanwhile, has intricacy but is often characterized by linearity, predictability and cause-and-effect relationships. Airplanes and buildings are complicated. Complicated systems yield to an approach that breaks them down into smaller parts and analyzes each part in isolation. Complex systems require a holistic approach that can map interactions and feedback loops between different parts of a system as it adapts to changing conditions. A machine can be assembled from its constituent parts and set running. A living thing cannot.

So wicked problems, like climate change, defy reductionist problem solving – But does that mean they are hopeless?

Not necessarily. Design thinking, with its iterative and co-creative approach to problem solving, is being brought to bear on wicked problems on all levels. By building experimentation, learning and feedback into a dialogue and deliberative process, the idea is that design can offer new points of traction on many of the defining characteristics of wicked problems like complexity, uncertainty and incompleteness. 

The concept of “wicked problems” is a framework for understanding and ideally addressing complex and persistent problems that defy easy solutions. But the uniqueness of every wicked problem means that no one approach will find preferable equilibria for every challenge