Engaging Alternative Cognitive Pathways for Taming Wicked Problems

A case studyAbstractI present a model of 'engagement' to explain how strategic decision makers use different concepts simultaneously to tame wicked problems in a modern business environment. Attention is placed on 'framing' and 'reframing' and how this can lead to the resolution of complex problems. I analyze a longitudinal case study of a transport logistics company, where a complex problem was framed through one set of concepts, reframed by another, and eventually tamed. I argue that strategic problem solving involves an engagement of different ideas and a process of reframing to tame wicked problems. Particular attention is paid to how the key actors interacted and how these interactions influenced 'engagement'. I conclude by relating this to modern European managers and the emergent problems they face.Introduction: Framing strategic problemsIn a recent article Kemper & Martin 17 pointed out that the emerging crises we face in a turbulent world bring forth the need for better services and infrastructure for the modern business. Strategists, especially those facing the aftermath of the European debt crisis and now facing a world filled with wicked problems, n As per the original ideas on 'planning as a wicked problem', 28-29 we still need newer skills and better infrastructure, but we also need better skills at managing complex problems in light of these issues. In particular we need a cognitive skill set that can adapt, frame and reframe strategic problems in the light of modern wicked problems.In this paper I present a model of problem solving that argues that modern managers need conceptual skills that enable them to develop a 'wicked problem solving' capacity. I base this on the work of!2 and more recently, 16 who argued that problems are the result of interacting cognition bound to individual and corporate interpretative schemas. Research has shown that these interpretive schemas can be on political ambition, power relations and or on other related matters T1T22, instead of supporting the arguments already established, I argue that in the modern environment, because of turbulence and disruptive ambiguity, actors need to develop skills in learning how to adapt and work with wicked problems. Using a single longitudinal case, I develop a model based on the assessment of alternatives as a change of cognitive engagement. The point of the case is to exemplify the need for management to develop skills of adaptability as it relates to complex problem solving. I argue that by learning this adaptability, managers can better appreciate the complexity they work in and develop skills that will enable them to cope with external and internal complexity. The following section introduces the ideas of framing and presents the basic shape of the model.What is framing?Framing was covered most successfully by 12, who presented it as 'ways of seeing' the world and representing an interest. The frame is the sense-making device that shapes understanding of observed phenomena. There has also been a great deal of literature in other disciplines that has studied the meaning of framing and how it can best be applied in analytical frameworks31. Typically, the Goffman view of a frame is linked to the context of an individual's way of seeing things, as noted in the following quote:To frame is to select some aspects of a perceived reality and make them more salient in a communicating text, in such a way as to promote a particular problem definition, causal interpretation, moral evaluation, and/or treatment recommendation for the item described. 8Framing is about the capturing of context as it relates to the way people and groups form ideas they find useful to believe in 26-34In recent management literature the coverage on framing has been limited to a broad perspective focusing on debates about models of rationality 22 and ways frames are used by political actors. The most recent offering which summarizes the contribution of framing to strategy is that of16. …