8 ways to recognise the wicked problems holding your organisation back

It’s easy to miss the most wicked problems.  They’re often disguised in a moustache and funny hat, hidden behind internal politics, a particular personality or “the way we’ve always done things.” Having dealt with truly wicked problems for quite some time, whether it’s optimising supply chains in UN refugee camps or restructuring £120-million+ a year charities, at AKCG we like to think we’re fairly good at identifying and solving wicked problems.

Because we enjoy the hunt, we won’t just take on any problem. What makes “the way we do things” a little different is that we only take on truly wicked problems.

Here’s a list of the questions we ask to help you in recognising truly wicked problems:

1. You’ve tried your first solution to solve your wicked problem and it didn’t work.
2. You’ve tried consultants already but the wicked problem only seems to have gotten worse, or revealed another five seemingly wicked problems.
3. The other good people around you in your company or organisation can’t agree on how to solve your wicked problem.
4. The other good people around you in your company or organisation can’t agree on the wicked problem itself.
5. The context surrounding your wicked problem (staff, resources, strategic plan) change before you solve the wicked problem.
6. Things other than solving your wicked problem – time, money or energy – are your limiting factors.
7. There is no objective space from which to solve the wicked problem on the inside.
8. You read the first seven things on this list, identified with all of them and now find your heart is racing.

Wicked problems only seem daunting because you haven’t come up with an equally wicked solution yet.  That can be the tricky bit.  What if starting the conversation leads to a whole list of other seemingly wicked problems?  Which one do you start with, or do you take them all at once?

We often find there is a “patient zero,” and we see it as our job to help you discover it, design a way forward and help you deliver a truly wicked solution. If you answered yes to one or more of the above questions you may have a wicked problem on your hands. But rather than panic Don’t worry, get in touch because we’re here to help.

For more information, contact us at: [email protected]