Improvising Design for Wicked Problems

IT-related change in complex business organizations involves the co-design of business (work-activity) systems and systems of IT. These designs emerge, as we learn about the situation as we deal with wicked problems.

Wicked problems are the type of interrelated, subjective problems that we encounter in organizational change. We can never resolve (or even agree) such complex problems in one go – each stakeholder has a different perspective on what the problems are. As Rittel & Webber (1973) observed, there is no single problem definition – and no stopping point by which to judge if you are finished.

Goal-based design is a myth. Instead, we face emergent design, comprising cycles of inquiry, systemic analysis, organizational & IT change, and evaluation. The best we can do is to agree a scope for action, analyze the problems within that scope and take action, then evaluate whether we made the situation better or worse. Design is emergent because we constantly need to change our scope and goals, depending on that evaluation – and on changes to organizational goals in response to a changing business environment.

IT and change management fail when they are managed as if each project is self-contained. Instead, we need to manage these processes as a single cycle in an ongoing process of managing organizational fit with an evolving business environment.

References

Rittel, H.W.J., and Webber, M.M. “Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning,” Policy Sciences (4:155-169) 1973.