Understanding Problems Flashcards
characteristics of a simple issue
(guidance needed, role of participants, predictability of outcomes, decision-making, level of agreement, need to question status quo, example)
guidance needed: instructions
role of participants: followers
predictability of outcomes: high
decision-making: little, if any required
level of agreement: high
need to question status quo: no need
example: baking a cake
characteristics of complicated issues
(guidance needed, role of participants, predictability of outcomes, decision-making, level of agreement, need to question status quo, example)
guidance needed: rules and blueprints
role of participants: experts
predictability of outcomes: medium
decision-making: linear and logical
level of agreement: medium
need to question status quo: little need
example: building a spaceship
characteristics of a complex issues
(guidance needed, role of participants, predictability of outcomes, decision-making, level of agreement, need to question status quo, example)
guidance needed: principles
role of participants: learners
predictability of outcomes: low
decision-making: emergent and intuitive
level of agreement: low
need to question status quo: high need
example: raising a child
describe the business decision framework for classifying system types
Success definable?
- if yes, continue,
- if no, complex system
Factors known?
- if yes, continue
- if no, complex system
exactness required?
- if yes, complicated system
- if no, simple system
what is an application of a complex problem to sustainability?
over population
def. carrying capacity
the maximum number of a species an environment can support indefinitely;
describe carrying capacity adn humans
•Very difficult for ecologists to calculate human carrying capacity.
•humans are complex species (– Does not reproduce, consume resources, and interact with living
environment uniformly)
what do carrying capacity estimates involve? (Predictions of what future trends)
– demography;
– resource availability;
– technological advances; and,
– economic development.
what are some population-based solutions to the population problem
- Eliminate world poverty;
* Make reasonable progress in educating women and improving their status
what is a technology-based solution to the population problem
make good reproductive health care widely available
what are the characteristics of a wicked problem (10)
- No definitive formulation
- No ”stopping rule”
- Solutions are not “false” or “true” but “bad” or “good”
- No immediate or ultimate test of a solution
- Any solution to a wicked problem only gets one shot
- No enumerable set of potential solutions
- Each is unique
- Each can be a symptom to another problem
- The way one explains the problem is shaped by way its solution is envisioned
- The planner has no right to be wrong
describe prototypical problem solving
- Analytical
- Data based
- Methodical
- Thorough
Decision making process
- Define the problem
- Identify the criteria
- Allocate weights to the criteria
- Develop alternatives
- Evaluate the alternatives
- Select the best alternatives
what are some implications regarding wicked problem solving
• The path towards resolving wicked problems is not more planning or better planning.
• Instead… it is about tackling
the problem in a fundamentally different way, one that is more suited to their very nature.
descirbe generally sustainability issues and wicked problems
• Sustainability issues are wicked problems.
– They are informed by expert knowledge, but are
also cultural and evaluative
– They have both social and environmental attributes
• In fact the social and environmental attributes
are essentially one and the same.
– ”Normal” problem solving techniques may not be
effective (on their own)
