Wicked World

Complex Challenges and Systems Innovation

Karel van Berkel, Anu Manickam

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9780367723538
• eBook ISBN: 9781000358643
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

Wicked World advocates the need to acknowledge the complex contexts in which managers, professionals and policymakers operate. Conventional tools do not serve us well in these new contexts and regularly aggravate the situation. This book offers a systemic perspective in exploring complex challenges and a sensemaking framework to deal with interconnected, persistent problems. Looking beyond the problem; seeking deeper patterns and linkages to other problems; realizing that cause and effect may not be obvious or close by; and that small changes can have major impacts…these are essential steps in operating in a wicked world.

It is time for new perceptions and concepts that can support us. Systems and complexity theories are a starting point for this book. A comprehensive sensemaking framework can guide us in dealing with challenges such as digitalization and robotization impacting businesses, institutions, homes and society as a whole; social inequity and polarizing discourses; obesity, burn-out and cybersecurity.

The first step is to become 'systems savvy' – Wicked World takes you on this journey.

1

Wicked world

■ How do we view our world? There are three dominant lenses. The first is one of ‘control’ in which we assume that everything can be planned. The second is what we call the ‘bubble world’. In this worldview, opinions and biases are dominant and group-driven. The third is the ‘complex’ world where we accept the paradoxical, unpredictable and dynamic nature of things due to interconnectedness.

Three worldviews

The worldview of a person determines how they look at problems and what actions they take to achieve their desired results. The three worldviews therefore impact assumptions, behaviours and results of the respective groups embracing them.

The controllable world

We can, to a certain extent, succeed in making our world manageable, familiar and reliable. We have achieved this through planning, calculating, experimenting, replicating, learning and designing. We can plan certain aspects of our lives: we can pave roads and build bridges, heat our homes and cure many diseases. Facts, laws, routines, rules of thumb, evidence of effectiveness, habits and regulations help us to lead our lives without undue confusion. When a problem arises or something happens to thwart our plans, we diligently search for a quick solution. We have faith in specialists and their methods. For a moment, our world seems manageable once more. At least until something else happens.

‘ The controllable I world is only one part of the real world

The manageable world is only one part of our reality. Many problems that seem manageable in the short term may prove to be more complex in the long term or when seen in a broader context. Fossil fuels were once considered an outstanding resource for heating, mobility and industrial use until we realized that the Earth was warming-up and climate change was becoming a wicked problem.

Brexit, United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union, was an appealing and obvious decision for many (in the UK) and it seemed a manageable option. This changed as problems emerged. These included negotiations on the scope and duration of a transition, the financial obligations and risks to both the UK and Europe, post Brexit EU and UK citizens’ rights, challenges of a border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, expectations and disappointments regarding a new trade deal with the EU, common challenges and shared resources such as military and policing agreements, anti-terrorism, space and education programmes and human trafficking.

The examples show that often actions we take may have unforeseen consequences, thus resulting in new problems. We are not always in control.

The bubble world

For many in the Western world, life has become less predictable and less safe. We worry about our incomes as robots and automation increasingly replace jobs. Some worry about our prosperity and the economy as newly developed countries are catching up and may overtake us. Will we be able to master our fears of cybercrime and terrorism?

A study by Shepherd and Kay (2012) shows that people tend to avoid societal issues they find too difficult. This effect is heightened when the issue at hand is serious and urgent. The inclination is to defend the status quo rather than pursue information and embrace change.

In her book Political Tribes (2018), Amy Chua describes how groups who feel threatened often retreat into ethnic or cultural tribalism. They isolate themselves, close ranks, begin to think in terms of ‘us and them’. They feel they are being attacked, bullied and discriminated and often react defensively. Chua explains how capitalist market-based thinking has led to a growing divide between a small, wealthy elite and the rest of the population. Individuals demand what is rightfully theirs based on their tribal standing. Another phenomenon of political tribes is that new tribes are emerging. An example of this is the growing diversity in sexuality and self-identification, represented by the acronym LGBTQQIP2SAA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, pansexual, two-spirited, asexual, allies). Amy Chua explains that similar tribal circles are emerging in many places around the world.

A new development, in an effort to cope with uncertainties, is the large number of people seeking support from digital networks.¹ They look for support from like-minded individuals and use social media to develop and reinforce their opinions, behaviour and identity. This results in homogeneous ‘bubbles’ in which Twitter and other social media is used to (re)interpret facts² and check opinions with others who share similar beliefs. These groups or bubbles may be scattered all over the world, but they share similar opinions, fears and anxieties. These developments have seen politicians and corporations cashing in to serve their interests whilst individuals in these bubbles also profit from visibility and popularity.

Bubble worlds are sensitive to populism, manipulation and fake news as ‘popular’ views are spread via websites and social media (Bruce, 2017). Big data technologies and personal profilingenhancethe impact of widespread views and altered news. Often used in politics, this trend is called ‘post-truth-politics’.³ Political framing, conveying a message through words and imagery to appeal to a certain group, is a way of simplifying reality.

Professor of Public Administration Hans de Bruijn distinguishes between frames that resemble a project and those that resemble drama. A project frame is exploited by those who want to ‘project’ authority. They do this by asserting their version of a problem, its causes and often simplified solutions (De Bruijn, 2016). This simplification makes a complex reality more manageable: ‘When the sea level rises, we need to build higher dykes.’ In contrast, a drama frame, focusses on the players instead of the core issue. There are villains, heroes and victims in a drama. The drama frame plays on emotions:’ Immigrants are thieving opportunists who cause trouble for normal citizens, which is why we should send them back.’

Web-algorithms fuel the bubble world by social profiling. This helps political and commercial parties to bring specific information to specific target groups. This is known as micro-targeting. Your ‘click behaviour’, location, spending patterns, friends and search history are used to ensure that you land in a specific information bubble and this means that you are less exposed to deviating facts and opinions. By living in bubbles, our perspectives and biases are confirmed (Pariser, 2011).

People feel comfortable in their bubble worlds as their view of the world and opinions are reinforced and thus begin to feel less threatened. The trend towards bubbles promotes self-opinionated and opposing views that results in antagonism against those who have dissimilar outlo...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Introduction
• 1 Wicked world
• 2 Systems analysis
• 3 Systems innovation
• 4 Policy innovation
• 5 Who is in charge?
• 6 Moving forward
• References
• Index
• Notes