Itarc 2015 how to solve wicked problems

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How to solve wicked problems

or

What happens if we view architecture work as design?


Aspect The heritage from System Engineering How we want to perceive EA today

What is the ”system”?

Software and hardware The business as a socio-cultural system: A complex adaptive system, (where software is an integral part)

World view DeterministicThe world is like a clock work, that can be understood and manipulated with formal methods

Non-deterministic The world is complex and highly dynamic

View on system and business development

Ultimately a formally defined and controllable process

A human act of ”theory making”(what is called ”design” by many)

Metaphor MechanicsMechanical (dead) components

BiologyA cluster of cells where each cell have knowledge and behaviour

EA has an origin in System Engineering – an heritage we maybe should abandon


Aspect The heritage from System Engineering How we want to perceive EA todayDevelopment process

PredictableThe belief that it is possible to correctly estimate and predict a solution beforehand. We know already in advance what the answer is, and development is only about implementing the answer.

ExplorativeControlled experiments. Grounding projections on empirical observation. We learn more and more until an answer emerges.

The development process spread in time

EpisodicDiscrete isolated projects with clearly defined beginning and end

ContinuousContinuous small changes in a living and dynamic system

Governance model Centralised hierarchical control Autonomy, cooperative self-organisation and coordination

EA has an origin in System Engineering – an heritage we maybe should abandon



New thinking grows both in management, system development and design theory

• Agile movement• Design Thinking• Wicked Problems• Systems Thinking• Complexity theory/ Complex adaptive system• Chaos theory• Business Design• The view on knowledge in organisations

All this affects the Enterprise Architecture discipline to a paradigm shift.Right now there is an old paradigm and a new in parallel, with all what this means.

Things arehappening…





Things are happening…

Agile Software DevelopmentA group of software development methods based on iterative and incremental development, where requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between self-organizing, cross-functional teams. It promotes adaptive planning, evolutionary development and delivery, a time-boxed iterative approach, and encourages rapid and flexible response to change. It is a conceptual framework that promotes foreseen interactions throughout the development cycle.






Design ThinkingAs a style of thinking, design thinking is generally considered the ability to combine empathy for the context of a problem, creativity in the generation of insights and solutions, and rationality to analyze and fit solutions to the context. While design thinking has become part of the popular lexicon in contemporary design and engineering practice, as well as business and management, its broader use in describing a particular style of creative thinking-in-action is having an increasing influence on twenty-first century education across disciplines.






Wicked Problemsa phrase originally used in social planning to describe a problem that is difficult or impossible to solve because of incomplete, contradictory, and changing requirements that are often difficult to recognize. The term ‘wicked’ is used, not in the sense of evil but rather its resistance to resolution.

Moreover, because of complex inter-dependencies, the effort to solve one aspect of a wicked problem may reveal or create other problems.





Things are happening…Systems ThinkingThe process of understanding how things, regarded as systems, influence one another within a whole. In nature, systems thinking examples include ecosystems in which various elements such as air, water, movement, plants, and animals work together to survive or perish. In organizations, systems consist of people, structures, and processes that work together to make an organization "healthy" or "unhealthy".Systems thinking has been defined as an approach to problem solving, by viewing "problems" as parts of an overall system, rather than reacting to specific parts, outcomes or events and potentially contributing to further development of unintended consequences. Systems thinking is not one thing but a set of habits or practices within a framework that is based on the belief that the component parts of a system can best be understood in the context of relation-ships with each other and with other systems, rather than in isolation. Systems thinking focuses on cyclical rather than linear causeand effect.





Things are happening…Complexity theory has been used in the fields of strategic management and organizational studies. Application areas include understanding how organizations or firms adapt to their environments and how they cope with conditions of uncertainty. The theory treats organizations and firms as collections of strategies and structures. The structure is complex; in that they are dynamic networks of interactions, and their relationships are not aggregations of the individual static entities. They are adaptive; in that the individual and collective behavior mutate and self-organize corresponding to a change-initiating micro-event or collection of events






Complex adaptive systems are a 'complex macroscopic collection' of relatively 'similar and partially connected micro-structures' – formed in order to adapt to the changing environment, and increase its survivability as a macro-structure.

They are complex in that they are dynamic networks of interactions, and their relationships are not aggregations of the individual static entities. They are adaptive in that the individual and collective behavior mutate and self-organize corresponding to the change-initiating micro-event or collection of events.[





Things are happening… Chaos theory studies the behavior of dynamical systems that are highly sensitive to initial conditions—a response popularly referred to as the butterfly effect. Small differences in initial conditions yield widely diverging outcomes for such dynamical systems, rendering long-term prediction impossible in general.

http://www.google.se/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=xenthoZUneEy2M&tbnid=Mxgk5JgalSUbwM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-the-butterfly-effect.htm&ei=iXFmUqmlOueZ4wT9mYGwDw&bvm=bv.55123115,d.bGE&psig=AFQjCNEBHk5SKqkqjZHcANL22roSpr0m0A&ust=1382531789568481





Things are happening…Whenever a company designs a new product, service, or experience, it is essentially designing its business. When done well, Business Design creates offerings that inspire organizations and excite customers. At IDEO, we combine design thinking and traditional corporate strategies to help clients create avenues for market growth. By shifting focus from linear practices to iterative design processes, we can shed light on new options and explore the various alternatives. Our methods include qualitative and quantitative research, business model prototyping, data visualization, organizational design, and IP liberation.

http://www.google.se/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=kuHcNIbcDmPHaM&tbnid=T6UNX2zrt5iYiM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http://www.inwithfor.org/2010/03/good-thinking-about-design-thinking/&ei=b3JmUveJG6Wu4ASM34GwDA&bvm=bv.55123115,d.bGE&psig=AFQjCNGB7EXgLogVOwNB1X95Q-9TcgmUvw&ust=1382532052355613





Things are happening…Knowledge creation = Formation of new ideas through interactions between explicit and tacit knowledge. Nonaka: A model of knowledge creation consisting of three elements: (i) the SECI process, knowledge creation through the conversion of tacit and explicit knowledge; (ii) ‘ba’, the shared context for knowledge creation; and (iii) knowledge assets, the inputs, outputs and moderators of the knowledge-creating process. The knowledge creation process is a spiral that grows out of these three elements; the key to leading it is dialectical thinking.


The book ”The Design Way” is where we found the most inspiration for what we want to see as a central component for a new understanding of Enterprise Architecture.

This book is not about EA specifically but is applicable on all human activity that is about creating something that did not exist before.

The authors argument for design (across all fields) should be acknowledged as an intellectual and practical tradition of human investigation and action, besides science and art. As humans we create things all the time that contributes to changing the world: technology, organizations, processes, environments, ways of thinking, systems of all kinds. When we do we design.


Professor and Chair of Informatics at the School of Informatics and Computing, Indiana University, Bloomington. Stolterman’s main work is within interaction design, philosophy and theory of design, information technology and society, information systems design, and philosophy of technology. Stolterman has published a large number of articles and five books, including “Thoughtful Interaction Design” (2004, MIT Press) and “The Design Way” (awarded “Outstanding book of the year 2003” by the American Association for Educational Communications and Technology). Stolterman’s research can be characterized as being grounded in careful analytical studies of the everyday practice of users and professionals dealing with interactive artifacts with a strong emphasis of building theory. Stolterman combines this approach with a strong critical and theoretical analysis of current practice.

Erik Stolterman


Visiting scholar in the School of Computer Science at the University of Montana. He was the 2009-2010 Nierenberg Distinguished Professor of Design in the School of Design at Carnegie Mellon University. He is a Senior Lecturer in the Graduate School of Business and Public Policy at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. For over twelve years Dr. Nelson was the head of the Graduate Programs in Whole Systems Design (WSD) at Antioch University.

As a consultant, Dr. Nelson has worked with a variety of organizations, including: non-profits and corporations, state and federal agencies, international governments, and the United Nations, and continues to work as an educator, consultant, and researcher in the field of organizational systems design where he brings both design thinking and systems science to the study and design of organizations.

He is a past-president and a trustee of the International Society for Systems Science; a position previously held by such notables as Margaret Mead, C. West Churchman, Ilya Prigogine (Nobel Prize recipient), Sir Geoffrey Vickers, and Russell Ackoff. He is the co-founding Director and President of the Advanced Design Institute, a not-for-profit.

Dr. Nelson received his Ph.D., graduating with distinction, from the University of California at Berkeley. He also received his Master of Architecture degree from U.C. Berkeley, and a Bachelor of Architecture from Montana State University.

Harold G. Nelson


1. understand the problem2. collect information3. analyse information4. create solution5. evaluate

solution6. implement

solution7. test8. modify

(Rittel 1988: ”The reasoning of designers”)

How we solve ”tame” problems


• can not be formulated exhaustively• each formulation is an expression of a solution• lacks stop rule• is not right or wrong• lacks exhaustive list of operations• can be explained in

different ways• each problem is

symptom for anotherproblem

• lacks both test andultimate test

• each problem isunique

(Rittel 1988: ”The reasoning of designers”)

Features of a ”wicked” problem


What is normally taught in schools is“problem solution”. That is to primarily identify what type of problem it is andsecondly apply a known method. It is a reactive model suited for “tame” problems.

Almost all significant problems we encounter in our daily life are “wicked problems”. They are not suited for simple methods and can not even be classified that simple. If we try traditional problem solution the result is paralysis and confusion.

The strategies working for wicked problems differ from those for tame problems, not only in degree but in kind.

One more thing besides this: If we only fix “problems” (tame or wicked) we have restricted ourselves. Design wisdom is a better idea than “problem solution”. We then change focus from escaping bad things only to steer to where we want.

http://www.google.se/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=0ERPJpBK23DVWM&tbnid=jClxjvE7uHO17M:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http://designwaybook.blogspot.com/&ei=LbdSUtTHHojL4ATIw4DwCA&bvm=bv.53537100,d.bGE&psig=AFQjCNEw97ylRJMOmOjYBqYRdOUnlDamZw&ust=1381238955583313


If we want to change something weoften think we first have to analyze theproblem in an exhaustive way, and then make rational decision between distinctchoices for action.

In reality analysis often leads to morechoices, that requires more analysis.

Decisions are not made in a rational way and can not be made in a rational way – at least not in the sense the rational tradition sees it.The reality is to complex to be dealt with in an exhaustive way.



“Design Thinking”is a better viewpoint.

We need to build adesign culture to make abetter grounding for ourwork.

It is applicable for all people whose work is to create something new (that is something that did not exist before, at least not in exactly the same form in the same context)


http://www.google.se/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=4o5RbOYL-kOuqM&tbnid=I7Kyd4_uis2V5M:&ved=&url=http://www.adsangtao.com/page/21&ei=GYtmUuacCOmR4AS53YHoAw&psig=AFQjCNHvulAz28Li1U9RYRwSlAK9v4Hkew&ust=1382538322607989


buildings…


cities…


cultures…

http://www.google.se/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=ECHNDPyl1zz3tM&tbnid=T-ihrSU76mggFM:&ved=0CAgQjRwwAA&url=http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=83&artikel=4831442&ei=8BVtUoLaDsLG4gSzvoCoCw&psig=AFQjCNGv6V7wDquB-Gml3YHVCKsyMMg7cw&ust=1382967152293917


countries…


political systems…


organisations…


enterprises…


products…


services…


processes…


strategies…


ways to work…


world views…


The world we live in is created by humans in all essential aspects.

Buildings, cities, cultures, countries, political systems, organisations, companies, products, services, processes, strategies, work methods, world views, and more…

The activity to create something new , that do not exist before, we can call “design”


Induction and deduction are not enoughInductionTo draw conclusion from the specific to the general, i.e. from experience to conclusion.

DeductionTo draw conclusion from the general to the specific, i.e. to apply what we already know on the reality.

Induction and deduction are the kinds of reasoning emphasized in science. But they do not suffice when we create new. We need more kinds of reasoning.

We need to search for what is ”real” instead of what is ”true”. We need design judgement.


What we strive to create when we design deals with judgement, based on desire and purpose and can never be described in explanations, descriptions or predictions.

IntuitionWhat we know, but not really know how we know. A composed understanding of experience based on a complex set of impressions from the world.

AbductionTo create a hypothesis (a reasonable guess) from observed facts. Gives new knowledge.


We always design for someone. To design is consequently (differing from science and art) to serve someone.To design is not to help people to create what they already know they want. The result surpass what the client from outset (normally only vaguely) perceive that she wants.

The designer bringsto surface a clearerexpression for theclients wishes.

The designer createsmeaning.

Design is to serve


How to communicate is central.• Notitia: The ability to create a true comprehension of things by observing

and participating in an open and attentive way. (Hillman 1982: The Thought of the Heart and the Soul of the World)

• The designer is responsible not only to the client but to all affected.• Design work is a partnership with all involved, a ”conspiracy” in the meaning

that you are breathing together. It resembles what is called ”flow”.• Empathy is the ability to

”be” the other person andstill be yourself.

Design as participation


Designers need to see more than the things in their own. They need to see and handle the important relations between the things in the world. It means we think in systems in everything we do. Every design is either an element in a system or a system in its own.There is a number of approaches in systems thinking.• Systems Thinking• Systems Approach• Systems Design• Systems Theory• Systems Dynamics• Systems Analysis• Cybernetics• Systems management

How we can understand systems


How can weunderstand EnterpriseArchitecture?

Science or art?


How can we understand Enterprise Architecture?

Science Art

EA?

Communalities-Has a community-Experimenting-Moves borders-Has criticism/examination

Science• Physical world Theory

(concrete)(abstract)

• Science is our attempt to express or share our understanding of the world around us. It is about the world in an objective sense. The purpose is to give utility.

Art• Personal idea Manifestation

(abstract) (concrete)• Art is our attempt to share or

influence others through individual experiences. Art is not to have purpose but is a purpose in itself

Differences in purpose


Science Art

Design

EA!

Science• Physical world Theory

(concrete) (abstract)• Science is our attempt to

express or share our understanding of the world around us. It is about the world in an objective sense. The purpose is to give utility.

Art• Personal idea Manifestation

(abstract) (concrete)• Art is our attempt to share or

influence others through individual experiences. Art is not to have purpose but is a purpose in itself

Design resembles art but with a purpose. Is for a purpose for someone. The result should be useful.


There are many ways toapproach and inquire theworld when you aboutto make a design.

Each method gives onlya restricted view.We must therefore always combine more than one method.

There is no bottom in the information we can retrieve. A complete analysis is not possible. Requirements are not ”out there” to be ”discovered”. We can only focus on what we want to achieve and be open for ways to show them self in due time.

How design comes about


”Design is about bringing things into the world that have not existed before.”


To bring somethingnew into the worldwe need more than creativity.

The ability to imaginewhat this new ”something” is, how it can be realised and to communicate this are central components. This goes for all kinds of design and for all phases of the work.

Imagination and communication


As designer I interpret andconceptualise ideas and givethem shape so they can becommunicated and beunderstood by all involved.

Rich pictures conveyed with graphics and text in diverse formsare essential.(Pictures are fundamental tohuman communication, bothwith others and also with ourselves)

This is not only for what is new but also for understanding what is there today.

A situation can never be described exact as it is. Every description is based on a selection of attributes I think is important. This process is also about to imagine alternative choices and to use ones judgement. This is a non-linear, very dynamic and emergent process that emerges in the relation with all involved.

Imagination and communication

centering

conversationdialogue

graphologue

iteration

implementation

The phases of design communication

1. CenteringThe clients (implicitly and explicitly communicated) needs and wishes triggers imaginations among the involved.

When it works it feels like a conspiracy, a breathing together.

2. ConversationTo wholly an fully pay attention to the other, to find relations and connections that can be a starting point for a contract.

3. DialogueMovement towards shared understanding and shared expression in the specific context. Does not necessarily mean that all have the same understanding, but we understand each other:This is not: - an expert comes with a truth- negotiation of what should be included.

4. GraphologueThe insight in new possibilities in the shape of new mental pictures. Pictures trigger new emergent and divergent pictures and so on. The pictures are carried by communicative artefacts that let us ”touch” the pictures, experience their qualities.Acceptance often comes as a surprise. Neither client nor designer knew beforehand what would comeNo a shared ground is created for an intentional change, a judgment that a picture is rich and mature for next iteration, whether implementation or only on paper.

5. ImplementationThe picture continues to concretize and crystallize and take concrete place in the world as an artefact and thereby gets a life of its own.

conspiracy

trustagency

common understanding

common meaning

meaning


In the heart of the design discipline lies the ability to make solid design decisions.The judgment is not grounded in strict rational reasoning but in aggregated experience, learnings from consequencesof past choices made in complex situations.

Good judgement can not be taught as general rules, since it is extremely dependant on context. However it can be trained.

A common misconception is that judgement is based on a complete understanding of the situation, and that there are ”correct” decisions to arrive at. Such understanding is never possible. From this misunderstanding we get ”analysis paralysis” or over-simplification. If the client wants a process that leads to guaranteed and predictable result, design is not applicable. Design is an act of bringing to the world things that does not exist yet, neither in the imaginary world or in the real world.

The design process asjudgement


The client plays a role continuously through the whole process. Design decisions are never fixed but new ideas, insights, changed circumstances, new understanding and knowledge changes the context even for made decisions.

Judgement in design is a fully dynamic and dialectic process, that moves between conscious and unconscious decisions and between the client and the designer. Because we can not take in all details we must deliberate choose to ignore some aspects to focus on others. We choose what is to be foreground and what is to be background.

The design process as judgement


Good design is possible! We can be better designers if we look upon the design process such as we are intentionally making well grounded judgements and not like something just happens or is about logical reasoning alone.

The design process as the use of judgement


A design is always a combinationof something, i.e. we have joinedand connected elements.To design is to join things, people included, to something unified whole.

We bring together parts, material, functions, structures, processes, activities and events in a way that the composition gets an emergent presence in the world. Such a combination is more than a pattern of parts: it is a combined whole that shows emergent qualities that transcends the qualities of the parts, both isolated and as a sum. Limitations, as well as conclusions drawn beforehand should always be thoroughly investigated and questioned.

Design is to combine


There are no universal ready-made compositionsthat can be used without extensive adaptation.So there is nothing to gain in direct copying orimitate earlier design.

However, by studying earlier designs as case studies helps us to recognise the specific in every design situation. It helps us to develop asensibility and appreciation for the design process, the spirit and energy that makes gooddesign.

Design expresses creativity, not because the result consists of new technology, new materials or new social functions, but because of how different elements are knit together in a way that is appropriate for the specific circumstance and purpose.

Design is to combine


Designers use the materialin the design process, more or lessas a design partner. It is oftenexpressed as ”asking the materialwhat it wants to become”.The material responses through itslimitations and possibilities.Something similar happens whenwe begin to put our thoughts on paper.Our own words appears to us in a way that reveals our hard to get or unformed thoughts. When we read what we have been writing we are forced to rewrite or even rethink our ideas. The written text exposes our thinking to us through the power of an interactive material.This shows that the material fabrication is not something that comes after the design is finished. On the contrary, the design process continues even after the design has taken place in the world. The development often continues over generations of versions, users and stakeholders.

Craft and material


It is not possible to determine how good a design is before it has made its presence in the world.

It is only in its real environment with all relations that all qualities get visible.


Evils we can not escape- something new replaces something old that gets ruined- alternative opportunities are lost

The evil of design

Evils we can escape- power we have without

understanding what we do- acting without personal connection

to the consequences (due to ignorance, negligence or inattention)

Wilful evils- power without desire to do

good - to act on behalf of someone

without her consent


Has a ”soul”, which can be seen as a strong connection between• a feeling of organic

wholeness• meaning, to be

relevant and useful

- We then use words likeintegrity, wholeness, richness, deepness, authenticity.

Good design


As designerswe create theworld

What we do changesthe reality forordinary people.

The world gets moreand more created by people.

We have a great responsibility


As designers we create the worldIt easily happens that we try to escape our responsibility by wishfully inventing some sort of guarantor, someone or somethingthat can ensure the decisions wemake are right and can be implemented. If this would work we could regard ourselves only as truth tellers. What we arrive at is something inevitable. The following are common escape paths:To move the responsibility to someone else- to the design process (a detailed and rigid method removes the whole responsibility. The designer becomesan operator only)

- to some design principle- to an universal truth (e.g. scientific fact)

- to someone else (client, stakeholder, user. The designer becomes a facilitator only)

- To hide the responsibility (e.g. by embedding all actions in a complex administrative network of responsibilities)

- To think away the responsibility completely


As designers we create the worldIf I want to be a good designer there is no defensible way to move, hide or remove responsibility for my own actions.There are no theories, methods, technics or tools that can calculate, anticipate, or show the true best future reality. The true best future reality does not exist as predetermined objective fact.As people we have the ability to create a different future – constrained only by our present reality and by our imagination. The only thing I can trust – the only guarantor there is for a good design – is that I can develop my character as designer, my values.

A designers character is his or hers kernel. No judgement in design can be made based on knowledge alone. Design decisions are in this meaning an act of trust to my kernel values and convictions. The designer must trust her own ability to good judgement. This can developed through reflexion.


”In order to create character we have to live the examined life.”

”When we guide our lives by our own pondered thoughts, it is our life that we are living, not someone else´s.”

Robert Nozick

Itarc 2015 how to solve wicked problems

Business

system development

system engineering

business development

sociocultural system

irm ab

agile software development

incremental development

evolutionary development