Living In A World of Wicked Problems

Looking at uncertainty, your health and how to live with ambiguity

Right now, many of us are wrestling with a “Wicked Problem.” A Wicked Problem, first coined by town planers Rittel and Horst in 1973, is problem that is constantly changing, vastly complex, and where making changes to one area of the issue will have consequences on other areas. Big Wicked Problems we are dealing with include global poverty, terrorism and climate change.

I recently had a conversation with a human rights lawyer who was bemoaning the fact comfortable middle class people kept informing her (usually at a dinner party) that the solution to bad working conditions in factories in some poorer areas of the world was just to boycott goods coming from that area/brand/industry. “How,” she said as she raised an eyebrow, “would that help the factory workers trying to earn a living?”

That dilemma aside, today, each of us is faced with at least one wicked problem in our own lives: The Coronavirus. Feeling isolated as a result of lockdown and want to embrace the lockdown lift eagerly? Great. It might solve the problem of feeling lonely, but immediately opens up a whole new Pandora’s Box of other issues (the second wave, who should be in your bubble, where do you find an open loo when you need one?)

The result of Wicked Problems, big and small, is a feeling of stress and anxiety. For some this can be anxiety around climate change and the future of the planet for their children, for others it can be issues that affect themselves and their families right now — the threat of redundancy and the dread of having to get out there and find another job in this shrinking job market.

As we all know, stress is not good for you. The stress response is something that kept us alive thousands of years ago. If we were out hunting and a predator appeared our stress response would prompt us to release adrenaline. This would push us to either run (flight), or, if we were too late for that, fight. Our heart would be pumping and the rush of blood means that more oxygen would rush to our muscles, getting them ready to move.

Stress was our body’s signal that we should take action because there is danger somewhere, and it gets our body ready. However, with Wicked Problems it is almost always impossible to do that, and you end up with chronic stress.

Adrenaline released for a long period of time will affect our heart and blood vessels. Chronic stress also releases high levels of cortisol, which can cause headaches, depression or irritability. Not to mention all the other symptoms of stress. Take your pick from:

· Feeling rushed or panicked

· Not being able to concentrate

· Your heart is pounding

· Shortness of breath

· Health problems such as headaches, stomach problems or other issues that won’t go away

· Nightmares or bad dreams

· Feeling down, lethargic or anxious

· Seep problems

· Feeling tired all the time

· Worrying

· Feeling tearful

· Feeling anger for no real reason

· Memory issues

· Wanting to drink more or comfort eat

Dealing with the fall-out from Wicked Problems in the short term can be the same as dealing with any type of stress.

Long-term, however, the truth is that we can never solve that problem itself — at least not on our own. Those who flourish the most under Wicked Problems are those who are comfortable living with a high level of ambiguity in their lives. Ways you can stretch this are:

• Getting comfortable letting others choose — what to eat, where to go etc. This isn’t about becoming a doormat, but ceding control so that we are not driven to always want it
• Becoming involved in solving the problem in any way that suits us, whether that’s joining an Extinction Rebellion protest, writing letters on behalf of Amnesty International, or holding a family meeting to come up an agreed approach to lifting lockdown. Take action and own it — do what you can and accept that you can’t do everything
• Leaning into that feeling of not having control. How does it feel? Do you feel panicked, find it hard to breathe, feel the edges of despair coming on? Give yourself ten minutes a day to deal with all the feelings your issue throws up, then turn off the alarm and get on with your life. Pushing down our anxieties only makes them more mysterious and stronger, fighting to be seen and heard. This way we truly acknowledge them and give them space. If we decide to take action as a result of these sessions, that’s great, but finding answers is not the goal here.

Finally, there can be a huge release is acknowledging that is problem is a Wicked one, that there can never be the perfect solution. Recognizing this can help us let go and ultimately, bring us some relief.

Paula Gardner is a business psychologist and career coach helping people deal with worked problems like redundancy, career stresses and team dynamics. You can find her at http://www.scarletthinking.com.

Rittel, Horst W. J.; Webber, Melvin M. (1973). “Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning” (PDF). Policy Sciences. 4 (2): 155–169. doi:10.1007/bf01405730.