Critical Essay: Wicked problems in the Age of Uncertainty

Abstract

We are, apparently, living in unprecedented times, an Age of Uncertainty, when wicked problems whirl all around as we struggle to cope with Covid-19, environmental catastrophe and the right-wing populism that threatens to unravel all kinds of international agreements. In this personal reflection, 15 years after I wrote an article on wicked problems and the social construction of leadership, I take a look back, and forward, to see whether there ever was an Age of Certainty when only tame problems temporarily troubled us, or whether our understanding of the world is itself a social construction, open to dispute and thus we have always lived in uncertain times. In the process of this evaluation, I consider whether collaborative leadership, often associated with wicked problems, is as ubiquitous and effective as some proponents make out, and if it isn’t, what this says about our ability to address such problems.

Leadership configuration in crises: Lessons from the English response to COVID-19

“…We agree that some degree of command may be necessary to respond to some of the problems related to Covid-19 ( Grint, 2022 ). However, to emphasise our argument, what emerged within England was an unbalanced leadership configuration with an overemphasis on individual leadership.…”

“…One might wonder whether collective leadership, as it has been captured in the literature ( Ospina et al, 2020 ), is at all possible within such a context caused by the misdiagnosis of wicked problems? To this end, we argue for the need to recognise the complex nature of wicked problems, to avoid reducing decision making to simple or perfect solutions, and embrace more creative and collective decision making and judgement ( Grint, 2022 ).…”

“…First, leaders and their followers may not share the same perception or interpretation of the problem. According to such constructivist perspectives, achieving consensus during a crisis is very difficult since conflict might arise upon diverse interpretation of the facts ( Grint 2022 ). Second, during a crisis, such as Covid-19, individualistic and collective leadership need to combine to address problems ( Fairhurst et al, 2020 ; Hällgren, Rouleau and De Rond, 2018 ; Holm and Fairhurst, 2018 ).…”

Editorial: Crafting review and essay articles for Human Relations

“…However, unlike systematic reviews, they are often polemical in that they may proceed by assertion, be based on avowedly partial accounts of the literature and depend for their validity on the subjective appreciation of readers (Keenoy, 1999: 2). That is, critical essays are, to an extent, dialectical exercises with ourselves (Rascaroli, 2017) and as such are often more personal projects (see, for example, Grint, 2022). Some regard this as a serious limitation irrespective of whether the key issues addressed in the essay are consistent with the broader literature (Baumeister and Leary, 1997).…”

Structuring Wicked Problems in Nigeria: The Operations Research Approach

“…According to Keith, [2], we are apparently, living in unprecedented times, an age of Uncertainty, when wicked problems whirl all around. There has never been an age of Certainty when only tame problems troubled the world.…”