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Collaborating Around Wicked Problems

Collaborating Around Wicked Problems. Chris McGoff Touchstone Consulting Group Institute Touchstone.com. Key Points. Most projects in organizations are “wicked problems” The process is opportunity-driven Fragmenting forces have and will tend to pull projects apart

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Collaborating Around Wicked Problems

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  1. Collaborating AroundWicked Problems Chris McGoff Touchstone Consulting Group Institute Touchstone.com

  2. Key Points • Most projects in organizations are “wicked problems” • The process is opportunity-driven • Fragmenting forces have and will tend to pull projects apart • Needed: anti-fragmentation (coherence creating) tools © 2005 CogNexus Institute

  3. Traditional Wisdom • All projects proceed through a sequence of steps or phases, e.g. • Perception, Definition, Analysis, Generation of Alternatives, Evaluation, Decision Making (Straus, 2002) • Problem Definition, Requirements Gathering, Requirements Analysis, Functional Specification, High-level Design, etc. (traditional waterfall) © 2005 CogNexus Institute

  4. How We Humans Actually Approach Novel Problems Problem Solution Time © 2005 CogNexus Institute

  5. Early attempts at solutions • Experiments • Prototypes • Hunches • Late efforts to understand the real problem How We Humans Actually Approach Novel Problems • Problem solving is Opportunity-Driven © 2005 CogNexus Institute

  6. “Wicked” (Ill-structured) Problems • You don’t understand the problem ‘til you have a solution • Many stakeholders • Changing constraints • $$, time, players • Run out of resources Versus "Tame Problems" © 2005 CogNexus Institute

  7. How We Humans Actually Approach Novel Problems Problem Solution © 2005 CogNexus Institute

  8. “Social Complexity” • The number and diversity of stakeholders (players with a stake in the outcome) • Kinds of stakeholder diversity: • Individual differences in character and learning style • Professional differences in expertise and language use • Different organizations and departments represented (“stove pipes”) • Differences in role and authority • Each additional stakeholder adds to density and complexity of information flow © 2005 CogNexus Institute

  9. Implications of ODPS & Wicked Problems • Sequence is a (useful) fiction. • No linear process will be adequate • White water kayaking and bungee jumping are good preparation • Neither Top-down nor Bottom-up works • Solutions & actions drive learning … do some implementation at the beginning! • The implementation details are unimportant (they will change) – the conversations around them are what matters © 2005 CogNexus Institute

  10. Implications of ODPS & Wicked Problems (2) • Resist the temptation to limit stakeholders • Wicked problems can be tamed, but doing so reduces the robustness of the solution • Focus on the planning process, not The Plan • Planning activity can create shared understanding and shared commitment • Capture and manage open issues, high-confidence assumptions, decisions. © 2005 CogNexus Institute

  11. Implications of ODPS & Wicked Problems (3) • Chaos is normal. • From a Command/Control perspective collaboration looks like chaos (ODPS) • Find textured ways to create order • E.g. Diverge/converge cycles • Good process is essential • Event/session planning, logistics, food • Facilitation … Critical when diverse stakeholders need to collaborate © 2005 CogNexus Institute

  12. How to deal with a wicked problem? • Pay much more attention to relationships and communication … • Collaboration tools (synchronous & asynch) • Iterate • Stakeholder communications (“marketing”) • “Shared display” (group memory) • Honor the limits of human cognition • Compendium, a tool for capturing complex conversations in meetings © 2005 CogNexus Institute

  13. “It ain’t what people don’t know that hurts them, it’s what they do know that ain’t so.” Mark Twain © 2005 CogNexus Institute

  14. Dialog Mapping • Creates shared display for meeting discussions • Helps group capture and explore questions, ideas, pros & cons, and other informal knowledge • Focuses group attention, without imposing arbitrary or linear structure • 3 Elements: Facilitator + Display + IBIS © 2005 CogNexus Institute

  15. IBIS:The Deep Structure of Conversation • The basic elements of design conversations: • Questions • Possible answers (Ideas) • Arguments (for and against Ideas) • Criteria for a facilitation/mapping grammar: • 1) simple to do on the fly • 2) easy to learn • 3) illuminates deep structure of the conversation • 4) increases communication and rigor + clarity of argument reasoning © 2005 CogNexus Institute

  16. The Fundamentals of IBIS Question: A topic or problem to be explored and answered. What should our word processing standard be? © 2005 CogNexus Institute

  17. Word WordPerfect Excel Idea: A possible answer or solution to the question What should our word processing standard be? © 2005 CogNexus Institute

  18. + MS Office Word + WordPerfect Mode Legal standard + Retrain non-users - Accounting memos + Argument: A statement for or against an idea (aka Pro or Con, Plus or Minus) What should our word processing standard be? WordPerfect Excel © 2005 CogNexus Institute

  19. + MS Office Word + WordPerfect Mode Legal standard + Accounting memos Retrain non-users + Excel Finding hidden questions What should our word processing standard be? WordPerfect - Excel What should our spreadsheet standard be? © 2005 CogNexus Institute

  20. Lunch Location Exercise “I’m in the mood for ribs, so let’s have lunch at Bub’s Barbeque.” “Dave is a vegetarian, so I think we should go to the Tofu Palace instead.” “They have a great salad bar at Mama Mia’s.” “Yeah, and I can get a good burger there too. Let’s go.” © 2005 CogNexus Institute

  21. Paired Facilitation Exercise • Pair up – Pick who is Facilitator, who is Client • Client: Pick a serious problem you’ve been thinking about. Starting describing it. • Facilitator: Start writing down, in IBIS, the key elements: • Questions, Ideas, Pros and Cons • Keep showing your map to the Client, get their OK that you’re getting it right. © 2005 CogNexus Institute

  22. A few tips … • Seed the map before the meeting (questions) • Write big and clear enough for everyone to see (or set QM Preferences | Font) • Keep moving your attention between the group and the display • Validate each comment with the speaker • Listen for the questions (often unspoken) © 2005 CogNexus Institute

  23. Further information … http://cognexus.org Download Compendium Reading: “Wicked Problems and Social Complexity” “The Age of Design” “Designing Organizational Memory” © 2005 CogNexus Institute

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