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On the side. I've also always thought that if you buy Simon's theory of design, which is open to designing without final goals in order to expand our preferences, and hence values (if values for you include preferences), then design thinking inherently makes problems wicked - because it introduces new goals, new values with which to complicate the framing of the problem with alternative frames. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Where there is a senseless domination of one kind of logic, of one kind of discoursem and one set of values, design thinking is that which exorcises its terrors. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14748460902990344#.UzOzzPna6m4 "Saving the teacher’s soul: exorcising the terrors of performativity" London review of education The argument is framed in design discourse and has lots of James March I wrote this piece some time back on this very theme and it has been the piece that I had greatest fun writing. I have never been able to outdo the enjoyment of writing that piece since. I was lucky it eventually survived peer review - probably *just* made it, because both reviewers keep insisting that I tone down the exorcism metaphor, and until I did they would not let it through, even though that journal, advertises itself as "welcoming pieces that are more rhetorical". I think they weren't Roman Catholics. And you can imagine how much more graphic the original submission was. All best Jude -----Original Message----- From: CHUA Soo Meng Jude (PLS) Sent: Thursday, 27 March, 2014 1:11 PM To: 'PhD-Design - This list is for discussion of PhD studies and related research in Design' Subject: RE: Wicked Problems Dear All I've read Ken's explanation with great profit, but also the others have taught me many nuances of the concept. I sense in Terry some desire to move away from the constrictions of RW's definition - which is of course not a bad one, RW's definition I mean. But with Terry I have myself thought it most useful if not always to not stick to all of RW's 10 attributes, but to use the notion of a Wicked Problem more loosely, in the sense that the problem is so complex for the very reason that there is no easy consensus on what the problem is - and this not because we don't know how to fix it, but because we cannot always agree on what exactly is it we are to fix, what is the goal, and hence the probem. The wickedness derives from the contestation of axiological paradigms. My own sense is that this is the key idea in RW's concept of a wicked problem. We cannot agree what is the goal that we need to achieve here. So it's not like 5 engineers staring at a VW gearbox and wondering what in the world is wrong with it - here the problem is tame, they all have the same goal, which is for it to shft gears smoothly. A wicked problem on the other hand, is more like "poverty" - what exactly is the problem with poverty, and part of the wickedness of the problem of poverty is that there may well be no consensus on what we mean by poverty. Deprivation of what? Is it just monetary? Well to some yes, but others like Sabina Alkire and Sen and might say, not, its not just that, what about capabilities, freedoms, other multidimensional goods, and their deprivation. For this reason, every different way of problematizing the issue is an insinuation of a different solution. There's the phenomenon, but Richard Posner might say, look here the community is not getting the wealth it needs, Sen might say, well its that people lack basic freedoms, maybe I (as a natural law theorist) would say, look here where are the instantiations of Finnis' seven basic goods, as might Alkire I think, etc. Or the Pope might ask, isn’t the problem about spiritual poverty, etc... I've just started, and I already need a Sabbatical... Jude National Institute of Education (Singapore) http://www.nie.edu.sg DISCLAIMER : The information contained in this email, including any attachments, may contain confidential information. This email is intended only for the use of the addressee(s) listed above. Unauthorised sight, dissemination or any other use of the information contained in this email is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email by fault, please notify the sender and delete it immediately. ----------------------------------------------------------------- PhD-Design mailing list <[log in to unmask]> Discussion of PhD studies and related research in Design Subscribe or Unsubscribe at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/phd-design -----------------------------------------------------------------