Chapter 11 Review

Wicked Problems

Everyday that goes by people encounter, solve, and create new problems. Most of these are so mundane and ordinary that we hardly give them a second glance. Figuring out change for groceries, determining how much gas to buy are just a few of the problems we solve without realizing it. Those are problems who are domesticated. We know where and how they act and though they can potentially grow large they are not complicated. A very good example of a wicked problem many of us face everyday of our lives is that of driving an automobile.
How is driving a car complicated? You stick the key in the ignition, shift gears and point the nose foreword and it goes. The only time it gets iffy is when it doesn't do that. That only happens in an ideal world. Nobody is alone on the road and watching not only the road but those on it is part of the drivers job. Thus the more vehicles driving the more things to watch, hence each object has a smaller frame of time that the mind pays attention to it. What do we have then? A crowded street, bumper to bumper traffic with horns blaring and the guy ahead of you chewing on french fries while talking on the cell phone while your kids are fighting in the backseat. Thus not only are you supposed to watch the movement on this street but you're also bombarded by a plethora of sounds from all directions. Dedicating your mind to one task might be difficult but doable. The problem here is that traffic is moving slowly so thus you can limit your scope to just the few vehicles around you.
That works, you slowly make your way through the congestion but your kids up the ante and start fighting behind you. Like any good parent you turn around, stop them, and suddenly find yourself blocking a construction entrance since you were blindly following traffic. Worse yet, a construction is careening backward down the ramp. You do the only thing you can think of, floor the gas and the horn. The truck misses you and thankfully the person ahead of you saw what was coming and was able to give you enough space to dive into . The person behind you wasn't so lucky and broadsided the truck, being turned into an accordion in the process.
The issue with driving is that no matter what there are almost always other options to any situation. By simply paying attention to the road and stopping where one should have the above situation would have been averted. Another idea would have been to pull into the construction entrance, get out of the car and then chastise the kids. Just like a stone in a pond every persons actions ripple outward and influence the way others will react. The process of driving can also be related to personal relationships. We hope that they will go smoothly but sometimes they are bumpy or worse. Unlike with driving where there are rules of the road to help guide people there are no such rules for the interactions between people. That truly is the most wicked problem.