Wicked Problems and

Clumsy Solutions: the Role

of Leadership

Keith Grint BA (Hons) Sociology BA (Hons) Politics DPhil

Professor of Public Leadership and Management
Warwick Business School

Originally Published
Clinical Leader, Volume I Number II, December 2008, ISSN 1757-3424,
BAMM Publications

BAMM Publications is the publishing arm of The British Association of

Medical Managers. To learn more about them or their various publications
please get in touch at the address below.

The British Association of Medical Managers

Petersgate House, 64 St Petersgate,
Stockport, SK1 1HE
Tel: 0161 474 1141 Fax: 0161 474 7167
Email: bam@bamm.co.uk
www.bamm.co.uk
 Academic Paper

Wicked Problems and Clumsy Solutions: the

Role of Leadership
Keith Grint BA (Hons) Sociology BA (Hons) Politics DPhil
Professor of Defence Leadership & Deputy Principal (Management and Leadership)
Defence Leadership & Management Centre, Cranfield University

Abstract
We know a lot about organisational change but despite way forward. It then considers the role of default
- or perhaps because - the numbers of change models cultures and how these persuade us to engage elegant
around most change initiatives fail. This article suggests - that is internally coherent - responses. These may be
that this failure might be to do with our framing of the fine for Tame or Critical problems but Wicked problems
problem and consequent approach to resolving it. It need us to go beyond internally coherent approaches
suggests that differentiating between Tame,Wicked and and adopt so called Clumsy Solutions that use the skills
Critical problems, and associating these with of bricoleurs to pragmatically engage whatever comes
Management, Leadership and Command, might be a to hand to address these most complex problems.

Keywords
Tame, Wicked, Critical, Leadership, Management, Command, Elegant, Clumsy.

The Problem of Change so does the order in which they should be attempted, but
by and large they comprise something like this list of Ten
In his 1990 book, Managing on the Edge, Richard Pascale Commandments:
provides a graph of business fads and fashions across
time between 1950 and 1995. The graph reveals all the 1. An accepted need to change
primary trends from Managing by Walking About to 2. A viable vision/alternative state
Organizational Culture to Business Process Reengineering 3. Change agents in place
and everything in between. Indeed, roughly every year a 4. Sponsorship from above
new fad comes along to displace the old in a never 5. Realistic scale & pace change
ending cycle of change about change. Strangely enough, 6. An integrated transition programme
even though we now seem to know more about change 7. A symbolic end to the status quo
than ever before we still run up against the universal and 8. A plan for likely resistance
apparently timeless problem of failure roughly 75 per 9. Constant advocacy
cent of all change programmes seem to fail (Grint, 1995). 10. A locally owned benefits plan
Very often we assume that change is the equivalent of
restructuring, for example, the British National Health Now, there is nothing wrong with this list, indeed, its
Service has spent inordinate amounts of money and time intuitively obvious that these kinds of issues need to be
in trying to change itself but very often that change addressed when undertaking any kind of change, but the
amounts to little more than a restructuring and problem is that the list doesnt seem to work very well. It
relabelling of the organization rather than any radical might be, then, that we never undertake any kind of
attempt to rethink its purpose and realign it on that basis. change we only ever undertake a particular kind of
In many ways, then, the NHS reforms look more like an change. In short, the universal solution fails precisely
endless cycle of centralization and decentralization so because no organizational change is the same as any
that the structure in 2008 looks remarkably similar to the other there are always slight but significant variations
structure in 1981 its dj vu all over again. that bedevil such approaches. Let us now turn to a
different understanding of the nature of problems to see
In fact, if you look over most of the popular texts on whether this might lead us out of the change maze.
change there is a certain familiarity about them. Granted,
the number of elements in the change process differs and

11
 Academic Paper

The Problem of Problems: Tame, Wicked providing everyone with all the services and medicines
and Critical they required based only on their medical needs.
However, with an ageing population, an increasing
Much of the writing in the field of leadership research is medical ability to intervene and maintain life, a potentially
grounded in a typology that distinguishes between infinite increase in demand but a finite level of economic
Leadership and Management as different forms of resource there cannot be a scientific solution to the
authority that is legitimate power in Webers conception problem of the NHS. In sum we cannot provide everything
with leadership tending to embody longer time periods, for everybody; at some point we need to make a political
a more strategic perspective, and a requirement to resolve decision about who gets what and on what criteria. This
novel problems (Bratton et al, 2004). Another way to put inherently contested arena is typical of a Wicked Problem
this is that the division is rooted partly in the context: and while we often turn a collective blind eye to such
management is the equivalent of dj vu (seen this issues we cannot avoid making a decision at some point.
before), whereas leadership is the equivalent of vu jd So if we think about the NHS as the NIS the National
(never seen this before) (Weick, 1993).. If this is valid then Illness Service then we have a different understanding of
the manager is required to engage the requisite process the problem because it is essentially a series of Tame
to resolve the problem the last time it emerged. In Problems: fixing a broken leg is the equivalent of a Tame
contrast, the leader is required to reduce the anxiety of his Problem there is a scientific solution to that and we
or her followers who face the unknown by facilitating the know how to fix them. Or rather, suitably qualified medical
construction of an innovative response to the novel professionals know how to fix them. So to such people
problem, rather than rolling out a known process to a your broken leg is a Tame Problem, but if you run (sorry,
previously experienced problem. crawl) into a restaurant for your broken leg to be fixed it
will become a Wicked Problem because its unlikely that
Management and Leadership, as two forms of authority anyone there will have the knowledge or the resources to
rooted in the distinction between certainty and fix it. Thus the category of problems is subjective not
uncertainty, can also be related to Rittell and Webbers objective what kind of a problem you have depends on
(1973) typology of Tame and Wicked Problems (Grint, where you are sitting and what you already know.
2005). A Tame Problem may be complicated but is
resolvable through unilinear acts and it is likely to have Moreover, many of the problems that the NHS deal with
occurred before. In other words, there is only a limited obesity, drug abuse, violence are not simply problems of
degree of uncertainty and thus it is associated with health, they are often deeply complex social problems
Management. Tame Problems are akin to puzzles for that sit across and between different government
which there is always an answer and we might consider departments and institutions. For example, knife crime is
how F.W. Taylor (the originator of Scientific Management) neither simply a medical problem nor a legal problem not
epitomized this approach to problem solving simply a social problem it is all three and many more besides, so
apply science properly and the best solution will naturally attempts to treat it through a single institutional
emerge. The (scientific) managers role, therefore, is to framework are almost bound to fail. Moreover, because
provide the appropriate processes the veritable standard there often no stopping points with Wicked Problems
operating procedure (SOP) - to solve the problem. that is the point at which the problem is solved (e.g., there
Examples would include: timetabling the railways, will be no more crime because we have solved it) we
building a nuclear plant, training the army, planned heart often end up having to admit that we cannot solve
surgery, a wage negotiation, or enacting a tried and Wicked Problems. Conventionally, we associate leadership
trusted policy for eliminating global terrorism. with precisely the opposite the ability to solve problems,
act decisively and to know what to do. But Wicked
A Wicked Problem is more complex, rather than just Problems often embody the inverse of this we cannot
complicated that is, it cannot be removed from its solve them, and we need to be very wary of acting
environment, solved, and returned without affecting the decisively precisely because we cannot know what to do.
environment. Moreover, there is no clear relationship If we knew what to do it would be a Tame Problem not a
between cause and effect. Such problems are often Wicked Problem. Yet the pressure to act decisively often
intractable for instance, trying to develop a National leads us to try to solve the problem as if it was a Tame
Health Service (NHS) on the basis of a scientific approach Problem. When Global Warming first emerged as a
(assuming it was a Tame Problem) would suggest problem some of the responses concentrated on solving

12
 Academic Paper

the problem through science (a Tame response), manifest lacks the spaces represent the autonomy for followers to
in the development of biofuels; but we now know that grow into leaders themselves.
biofuels appear to denude the world of significant food
resources so that what looked like a solution actually The leaders role with a Wicked Problem, therefore, is to ask
became another problem. Again, this is typical of what the right questions rather than provide the right answers
happens when we try to solve Wicked Problems other because the answers may not be self-evident and will
problems emerge to compound the original problem. So require a collaborative process to make any kind of
we can make things better or worse we can drive our progress. Examples would include: developing a transport
cars slower and less or faster and more but we may not strategy, or an energy strategy, or a defence strategy, or a
be able to solve Global Warming, we may just have to national health system or an industrial relations strategy.
learn to live with a different world and make the best of it Wicked Problems are not necessarily rooted in longer time
we can. In other words, we cannot start again and design frames than Tame Problems because oftentimes an issue
a perfect future though many political and religious that appears to be Tame can be turned into a Wicked
extremists might want us to. Problem by delaying the decision or reframing the
problem (Fairhurst, 2005). For example, President
The we in this is important because it signifies the Kennedys actions during the Cuban Missile Crisis were
importance of the collective in addressing Wicked often based on asking questions of his civilian assistants
Problems. Tame problems might have individual solutions that required some time for reflection despite the
in the sense that an individual is likely to know how to pressure from his military advisers to provide instant
deal with it. But since Wicked Problems are partly defined answers. Had Kennedy responded to the American Hawks
by the absence of an answer on the part of the leader we would probably have seen a third set of problems that
then it behoves the individual leader to engage the fall outside the Leadership/Management dichotomy. This
collective in an attempt to come to terms with the third set of problems I will refer to as Critical.
problem. In other words, Wicked Problems require the
transfer of authority from individual to collective because A Critical Problem, eg a crisis, is presented as self-evident in
only collective engagement can hope to address the nature, as encapsulating very little time for decision-
problem. In other words, there is a huge degree of making and action, and it is often associated with
uncertainty involved in Wicked Problems and thus it is authoritarianism Command (Howieson and Kahn, 2002;
associated with Leadership. That uncertainty implies that Cf. Watters, 2004). Here there is virtually no uncertainty
leadership, as I am defining it, is not a science but an art about what needs to be done at least in the behaviour
the art of engaging a community in facing up to complex of the Commander, whose role is to take the required
problems. The metaphor of the Wheelwright might be decisive action that is to provide the answer to the
appropriate here. Phil Jackson (1995: 149-51), coach of the problem, not to engage processes (management) or ask
phenomenally successful Chicago Bulls basketball team, questions (leadership). A commander resembles a White
makes this point well. In the 3rd century BC the Chinese Elephant in both dictionary definitions: as a mythical
Emperor Liu Bang celebrated his consolidation of China beast that is itself a deity, and as an expensive and
with a banquet where he sat surrounded by his nobles foolhardy endeavour. Indeed, in Thai history the King
and military and political experts. Since Liu Bang was would give an albino Elephant to his least favoured noble
neither noble by birth nor an expert in military or political because the special dietary and religious requirements
affairs, one of the guests asked one of the military experts, would ruin the noble hence the connection between
Chen Cen, why Liu Bang was the Emperor. Chen Cens the god and ruination. Translated into Critical Problems I
response was to ask the questioner a question in return: suggest that for such crises we do need decision-makers
What determines the strength of a wheel? The guest who are god-like in the decisiveness and their ability to
suggested the strength of the spokes but Chen Cen provide the answer to the crisis, but the problem arrives
countered that two sets of spokes of identical strength did when our decision-makers really come to believe that
not necessarily make wheels of identical strength. On the they are gods. Of course, it may be that the Commander
contrary, the strength was also affected by the spaces remains privately uncertain about whether the action is
between the spokes, and determining the spaces was the appropriate or the reframing of the situation as a crisis is
true art of the wheelwright. Thus while the spokes persuasive, but that uncertainty will probably not be
represent the collective resources necessary to an apparent to the followers of the Commander. Examples
organizations success and the resources that the leader would include the immediate response to: a major train

13
 Academic Paper

crash, a leak of radioactivity from a nuclear plant, a military leadership: it remains the most difficult of approaches
attack, a heart attack, an industrial strike, the loss of and one that many decision-makers will try to avoid at all
employment or a loved one, or a terrorist attack such as costs because it implies that, (1) the leader does not have
9/11 or the 7 July bombings in London. the answer, (2) that the leaders role is to make the
followers face up to their responsibilities (often an
That such situations are constituted by the participants unpopular task) (Heifetz, 1994), (3) that the answer to the
rather than simply being self-evident is best illustrated by problem is going to take a long time to construct and that
considering the way a situation of ill-defined threat only it will only ever be more appropriate rather than the best,
becomes a crisis when that threat is defined as such. For and (4) that it will require constant effort to maintain. It is
example, financial losses even rapid and radical losses far easier, then, to opt either for a Management solution
like the run on Northern Rock in the UK or the difficulties engaging a tried and trusted process or a Command
of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the USA do not solution enforcing the answer upon followers some of
constitute a crisis until the shareholders decide to sell in whom may prefer to be shown the answer anyway.
large numbers or the government steps in. Even then the
notion of a crisis does not emerge objectively from the The notion of enforcement suggests that we need to
activity of selling or the point of intervention but at the consider how different approaches to, and forms of, power
point at which a crisis is pronounced by someone fit with this typology of authority, and amongst the most
significant and becomes accepted as such by significant useful for our purposes is Etzionis (1964) typology of
others. compliance and Nyes differentiation between Weak
Power and Strong Power.
These three forms of authority that is legitimate power
Command, Management and Leadership are, in turn, Nyes distinction between Hard and Soft Power. Nye (2004)
another way of suggesting that the role of those has suggested that we should distinguish between power
responsible for decision-making is to find the appropriate as softand hard.Soft, in this context, does not imply weak
Answer, Process and Question to address the problem or fragile but rather the degree of influence derived from
respectively. legitimacy and the positive attraction of values. Hard
implies traditional concepts of power such as coercion,
This is not meant as a discrete typology but an heuristic physical strength, or domination achieved through
device to enable us to understand why those charged asymmetric resources rather than ideas. Thus the military
with decision-making sometimes appear to act in ways tend to operate through hard power while political
that others find incomprehensible. Thus I am not authorities tend to operate through ideological attraction
suggesting that the correct decision-making process lies soft power. Of course, these are not discrete categories
in the correct analysis of the situation that, again, would the military has to win hearts and minds and this can
be to generate a deterministic approach but I am only be through soft power while politicians may need to
suggesting that decision-makers tend to legitimize their authorize coercion hard power. Indeed, as Nye (2004: 1)
actions on the basis of a persuasive account of the recognizes, The Cold War was won with a strategy of
situation. In short, the social construction of the problem containment that used soft power along with hard
legitimizes the deployment of a particular form of power.While Soft Power seems appropriate to Leadership
authority. Moreover, it is often the case that the same with its requirement for persuasion, debate and
individual or group with authority will switch between the ideological attraction, Hard Power clearly fits better with
Command, Management and Leadership roles as they Command, but Management sits awkwardly between the
perceive and constitute the problem as Critical, Tame two rooted in both or neither, because coercion is
or Wicked, or even as a single problem that itself shifts perceived as inappropriate within a free labour contract,
across these boundaries. Indeed, this movement often while ideological attraction can hardly explain why all
perceived as inconsistency by the decision makers employees continue to turn up for work. The limits of
opponents is crucial to success as the situation, or at using an analysis based on Hard and Soft Power might
least our perception of it, changes. also be transcended by considering Etzionis (1964)
alternative typology.
That persuasive account of the problem partly rests in the
decision-makers access to and preference for Etzioni distinguished between Coercive, Calculative and
particular forms of power, and herein lies the irony of Normative Compliance. Coercive or physical power was

14
 Academic Paper

related to total institutions, such as prisons or armies; that associate leadership with the effective and efficient
Calculative Compliance was related to rational resolution of problems. In other words, a democratic
institutions, such as companies; and Normative contender seeking election on the basis of approaching
Compliance was related to institutions or organizations the problem of global terrorism as a Wicked Problem
based on shared values, such as clubs and professional that requires long term and collaborative leadership
societies. This compliance typology fits well with the processes with no easy solutions, and where everyone
typology of problems: Critical Problems are often must participate and share the responsibility might
associated with Coercive Compliance; Tame Problems are consider this a very problematic approach because they
associated with Calculative Compliance and Wicked may be less likely they are to be elected. Hence the Irony
Problems are associated with Normative Compliance. of Leadership: it is often avoided where it might seem
most necessary.
Again, none of this is to suggest that we can divide the
world up objectively into particular kinds of problems and Increasing
uncertainty about
their associated appropriate authority forms, but that the solution to problem

very legitimacy of the authority forms is dependent upon

WICKED
LEADERSHIP:
a successful rendition of a phenomenon as a particular Ask Questions

kind of problem. In other words, while contingency theory MANAGAMENT:

TAME Organize Process
suggests precisely this (rational) connection between
COMMAND:
(objective) context (problem) and (objective) leadership CRITICAL Provide Answer
Increasing
requirement
style (authority form), I am suggesting here that what for
collaborative
counts as legitimate authority depends upon a persuasive COERCION/ CACULATIVE/ NORMATIVE/
compliance/
PHYSICAL RATIONAL EMOTIONAL
resolution
rendition of the context and a persuasive display of the (Hard Power) (Soft Power)

appropriate authority style. In other words, success is

rooted in persuading followers that the problematic Figure 1 Typology of problems, power and authority
situation is either one of a Critical, Tame or Wicked nature
and that therefore the appropriate authority form is This might be regarded as obvious to many people so
Command, Management or Leadership in which the role why do we remain unable to effect such change? To
of the decision-maker is to provide the answer, or organize answer that I want to turn to Cultural Theory and explore
the process or ask the question, respectively. In effect, one some so called Elegant Solutions.
particular skill that all three decision-modes require is that
of reframing problems seeing the problem differently so
as to rethink how it might be addressed differently Culture, Elegance and Clumsiness
(Fairhurst, 2005).
Mary Douglas (2003/8) argued that we could probably
This typology can be plotted along the relationship capture most cultures on the basis of two discrete criteria:
between two axes as shown below in figure one below Grid and Group. Grid relates the significance of roles and
with the vertical axis representing increasing uncertainty rules in a culture some are very rigid such as a
about the solution to the problem in the behaviour of government bureaucracy - but others are very loose or
those in authority and the horizontal axis representing liberal such as an informal club. Group relates to the
the increasing need for collaboration in resolving the importance of the group in a culture some cultures are
problem. Again, it should be recalled that the uncertainty wholly oriented around the group such as a football
measure used here is not an objective element of the team - while others are more individually oriented such
situation but the way the situation is constituted by those as a gathering of entrepreneurs. When these points are
in authority. Of course, that authority and problem may be plotted on a two by two matrix the following appears
disputed by others but the model assumes that successful
constitution of a problem as Wicked, Tame or Critical Where a culture embodies both High Grid and High
provides the framework for particular forms of authority. Group we tend to see rigid hierarchies, such as the
What might also be evident from this figure is that the military. Where the culture remains High Group oriented
more decision-makers constitute the problem as Wicked but lacks the concern for rules and roles in Low Grid we
and interpret their power as essentially Normative, the see Egalitarian cultures, epitomised by those organizations
more difficult their task becomes, especially with cultures where the group meeting is sacred and the search for

11
 Academic Paper

Now the problem is that such internally consistent or

High Elegant modes of understanding the world are fine for
dealing with Critical or Tame Problems because we know
FATALISM
HIERARCHY how to solve them and previous approaches worked.
Military
Individualists can solve the problem of decreasing carbon
GRID:
Rules emissions from cars a Tame problem open to a scientific
&
Roles INDIVIDUALISM EGALITARIANS
Meeting
solution, but they cannot solve global warming a
Market
Market
Wicked Problem. Egalitarians can help ex-offenders back
Low High
into the community a Tame Problem but they cannot
GROUP solve crime a Wicked Problem. And Hierarchists can
ORIENTATION
improve rule enforcement for the fraudulent abuse of
social services a Tame Problem but they cannot solve
Figure 2 Four primary ways of organising social life poverty a Wicked Problem. Indeed, Wicked Problems
dont offer themselves up to be solved by such Elegant
consensus critical. Where the Grid remains low and is approaches precisely because these problems lie outside
matched by an equal indifference to the Group, we tend and across several different cultures.
to see Individualist cultures the land of entrepreneurs,
rational choice, and market loving politicians for whom For example, if the rational choice world of individualists
any notion of the collective or rules is perceived as an rooted in market freedoms could solve all problems then
unnecessary inhibitor of efficiency and freedom. The final wed have difficulty explaining how the markets have so
category is that of the Fatalist, where the group dimension evidently failed in leaving us becalmed by the Credit
is missing but the isolated individuals believe themselves Crunch. If the world of rational argument and logic was so
to be undermined by the power of rules and roles. powerful then how come we cannot agree about what to
do about Global Warming? Surely if we were logical we
Douglas argued that these four cultural archetypes were would be able to abandon military conflict as the way to
heuristics rather than mirrors of society most of us solve disputes? Well not if we are not as rational as we
would find ourselves bordering regions or sitting across think. If we are as much the victim of our emotions and
them rather than sitting wholly within one region but our peer groups as of logic then such failings seem rather
nevertheless she regarded the typology as a useful way more understandable even if the solution is not obvious.
for beginning a conversation about cultures. What is clear Certainly the rash of recent books on decision-making
is that such cultures often tend to be self-supporting and (Ariely, 2008; Mlodinow, 2008; Tavris and Aronson, 2007)
internally consistent. In other words, hierarchists perceive suggest that we really are not as rational as we claim and
the world through hierarchist lenses such that problems we have known since Festingers original work in the
are understood as manifestations of the absence of 1950s that we are as much rationalizing as rational
sufficient rules or the enforcement of rules. For example, (Festinger, et al, 2008/1956). As such the possibility that the
knife crime is a consequence of weak rules and weak elegance of the rational, logical world of the individualists
enforcement of rules. In contrast, egalitarians see the same is sufficient to address Wicked Problems seems very
problem as one connected to the weakness of the limited.
collective community it is less about rules and more
about the community generating greater solidarity to Perhaps we should rely more upon the elegance of the
solve the problem. Individualists would have little faith in Hierarchists model, where rules and power are deemed
this the problem is obviously (for them) to do with the sufficient to address such issues. Yet we know that the
individual gang members not having a responsible job veritable mesh of rules, targets and KPIs that have been
and opportunities to better themselves perhaps even to thrown in heaps upon the Public Sector in the UK have
use their entrepreneurial skills to develop innovations to achieved only marginal results at best and, as I write this,
detect and deter knife crime. Fatalists, however, have given are already in the process of being scaled back drastically.
up. Many Fatalists who live on estates where knife crime is Thus where supermarket workers alter the sell-by-dates of
perceived to be commonplace often remark about their produce to comply with their targets and injured patients
inability to do anything about it they are not strong wait in ambulances outside Accident and Emergency
enough as individuals to face up to the gangs and believe (A&E) departments to avoid encroaching on the four hour
that if they did so the law would not support them. target for seeing all A&E patients, all concern for what the

14
 Academic Paper

target is intended to achieve is sacrificed to the target Why Elegant Approaches Dont Solve
itself. This is not because the target needs more regular Wicked Problems, But Clumsy Solutions
updating, it is because the target is merely an element of Might
the system but it is not the system and target setting
tends to replace the ends with the means, the system with If single mode (Elegant) solutions can only ever address
the element (Chapman, 2004; Seddon, 2008). elements of Wicked Problems we need to consider how to
adopt all three in what are called Clumsy Solutions. In fact
We need not worry about the role that Fatalists might play we need to eschew the elegance of the architects
in resolving Wicked Problems because by and large they approach to problems: start with a clean piece of paper
dont, but the Elegant Egalitarians dont offer us much and design the perfect building anew and adopt the
hope either. Egalitarians are good at generating debates world of the Bricoleur the do-it-yourself craftworker. Or to
but not at delivering decisions and often times those adopt the rather more prosaic language of Kant, we need
decisions are oriented towards the vagaries of groupthink to begin by recognizing that Out of the crooked timber of
and the group displacement of responsibility rather than humanity no straight thing was ever made. Put another
constructively addressing Wicked Problems (Janis, 1982; way, to get some purchase on Wicked Problems we need
tHart, 1994). to start by accepting that imperfection and making do
with what is available is not just the best way forward but
Does this mean that we should abandon Egalitarians, the only way forward. In this world we should avoid
Hierarchists and Individualists to their own fate and seek alienating significant constituencies but note that
some other utopian alternative? Hardly, because this is all progress does not depend upon consensus that would
we have. So the issue is less to do with looking for utopia be too elegant and would take too long! We need to start
and more to do with recognizing that Wicked Problems by asking what do we all (or at least most of us) agree on?
are Wicked precisely because they reside at the interfaces We also need to assume that no-one has the solution in
of these contrary cultures and thus we need all of them. isolation and that the problem is a system not an
Rather as the Scissors, Paper, Stone game works, no single individual problem and not a problem caused by or
(elegant) hand is sufficient for gaining momentum here solved by a single aspect of the system. Let us take Global
but all of them together have something to offer. In other Warming to illustrate this (See Verweij et al, 2006 and
words, while Hierarchists are good at decision-making and Verweij 2006 for detailed accounts of this).
rule enforcement, as a result they tend not to be
innovative and are prone to degenerate into corruption
unless the latter event is prevented by Egalitarians and the High

former by Individualists. Similarly, while Egalitarians are FATALISTS HIERARCHISTS

Theres nothing that The rules are inadequately
good at generating debate they tend to be unable to can be done. enforced: get a
People are selfish disciplinarian in charge
AKA: to sort out Kyoto style
reach decisions and quite likely to repress individuals who were all doomed
GRID:
dissent from the collective view. Only Hierarchists can help Rules
INDIVIDUALISTS EGALITARIANISM
& We need to facilitate We need to rethink
them out of the former fix and only Individualists can help Roles individualism & encourage our approach to
creative competition, consumption
them out of the latter fix. Finally, while individualists are technological innovation &
market forces will resolve
and shift to decentralized
& self sustaining communities
the problem
great at innovations and keen to preserve liberty and Low High
market freedom, markets are unable to act when they fail GROUP
ORIENTATION
that is where Hierarchists step in as the state has done
on both sides of the Atlantic when the housing markets
have recently failed. And without Egalitarians there would Figure 3 Elegant (single mode) Solutions to Global Warming

be no collective system for the protection of individuals

from the very same state.This individual weakness of each Figure 3 above summarizes the issue: Hierarchists consider
Elegant (single mode) solution and the mutual the problem to be a result of inadequate rules and
requirement for support leads us to the final aspect of the inadequate enforcement of rules. In effect a better Kyoto
problem: Clumsy Solutions (Verweij and Thompson, 2006). style agreement is necessary. But Egalitarians might argue
that this misunderstands the problem - it isnt the rules
that need altering and enforcing but our communal
attitude to the planet that needs to change we must
develop more sustainable ways to live not just obey the

11
 Academic Paper

rules better. But for Individualists both alternatives solution. If there was an elegant (scientific) solution it
misunderstood the problem and therefore the solution. would be a Tame Problem. Wicked Problems are
The solution is to encourage the freedoms that will inherently political in nature not scientific or rational and
facilitate individual responses to the problem, including progress is likely to be via a Clumsy negotiation of the
supporting the work of entrepreneurs who can generate common ground. For this our bricoleur actually needs to
the technological innovations that will save us. For acquire Aristotles phronesis the Wisdom to
Fatalists, of course, there is no hope we are all doomed. acknowledge that the situation is not like any other,
The problem here is that none of these Elegant solutions combined with the experience to recognize that such
actually generate sufficient diversity to address the Wicked Problems require a qualitatively different
complexity of the problem. Rules might facilitate safe approach from Tame or Critical Problems (Grint, 2007). So
driving but they would not prove adequate to saving the how do you address wicked problems?
planet. Nor can we simply abandon our centralized cities
and all live in self-sufficient communities in the Figure 5 below implies that a critical component of a
countryside: that might have been a viable option if we necessarily clumsy solution is to combine elements of all
were starting from scratch and we could have designed three cultural types: the individualist, the egalitarian and
living space with a blank piece of paper to hand but that the hierarchist, into a (clumsy) solution-space and within
architectural approach is no longer viable we need to each of these types are techniques that, when combined,
take the bricoleurs line and start from where we are. might just prise the Wicked Problem open enough to
Similarly, although technological innovations will be make some progress with it. Let us address each of these
critical and market pressures may help, we cannot rely on in turn.
these to solve the problem. Indeed, global warming may
not be solvable in the sense that we can go back to the
beginning and reclaim an unpolluted world and because Individualists Egalitarians

Positive Deviance not Collective IQ not

the facts remain disputed and more importantly negative Accuiescence Individual Genius

different interests are at stake in different approaches to Constructive Dissent not Empathy not Egotism
Destructive Consent
the solution, the best we can hope for is a politically Negative Capability
Community of Fate not
Fatalist Community

negotiated agreement to limit the damage as soon as

possible. That calls for a non-linear, nay crooked, response Clumsy
to stitch together an inelegant or Clumsy solution Solution

combining all three modes of understanding and making

use of the fatalists acquiescence to go along with the
Hierarchists
changing flow of public opinion and action. As shown
Questions not Answers
below in figure 4 below, what we actually need is to use all Relationships not
Structures
three frameworks to make progress here.
Reflection not Reaction

Individualists Hierachists

Technical innovations to Stronger global Figure 5 Clumsy Approaches to Wicked Problems

address global warming regulation of
at every level Clumsy carbon emissions AND...
AND... Solution Since every Wicked Problem is slightly different from all
Space
others, and since we cannot know the answer initially
(otherwise it would be a Tame or Critical Problem) there is
Egalitarians
no guaranteed method available, but the skill of the
Change in consumption patterns & more sustainability AND...
bricoleur (Gabriel, 2002; Strauss, 1966: 21) is in trying new
things out, setting loose experiments to see what works
Figure 4 Clumsy Solution for Wicked Problem of global warming
and what doesnt, and all this requires an initial
acceptance that you our great esteemed leader do not
The attempt to Tame a Wicked problem through a have the answer. Bricoleurs make progress by stitching
scientific/rational solution is to treat the problem as is you together whatever is at hand, whatever needs to be
were an architect facing a Tame Problem not a bricoleur stitched together, to ensure practical success. This is not,
facing a Wicked Problem. In effect, the quest for elegant then, the clean world of analytic models and rational plans
(scientific) solutions is part of the problem not the for progress to perfection, this is the world where Gabriels

14
 Academic Paper

(2002: 139) wise leaders are opportunistic, ad hoc, devious, they are Wicked, or look like being Wicked because the US
creative and original. The assumption that wise leadership has never experienced such a hurricane before ask the
can be reduced to this might strike the reader as rather appropriate questions. As it is Mr Bush appeared to
inglorious, even mundane, a reflection also captured in categorize Katrina as a Tame Problem because he did not
Lindloms ground-breaking claim in 1959 that most ask a single question of his experts, he just went on
decision-making mechanisms were little more than national TV and said, I want to assure the folks at home
muddling through, as he noted in 1983: that we are fully prepared.Nor can we heap the blame for
the ensuing catastrophe solely on Mr Bushs shoulders
Incrementalism is a common, though not because the role of his advisers is to ensure their message
universal, obvious feature and useful method of gets through. In other words, both Brown and Mayfield
policy-making, as well as personal decision making. should have said at the end of the briefing, Mr President,
Only a careless - at the same time overly tidy - and before you go on TV to reassure the people that
pretentious social science could have developed a everything is in hand, could we just go back to the
conventional view of decision making so naive problem of the levees and the dome roof to think through
that incrementalism could strike many as a great what might happen if neither hold? That neither does
clarification of decision strategies. I believe that merely compounds the crisis about to occur. Linked to this
none of my children saw anything noteworthy in switch in approaches from expert to investigator is a
the article or in the concept of incrementalism related requirement that Hierarchists are most suited for:
until their education had confused their earlier Relationships not Structures.
commonsense insights.

So the first step here is for the hierarchist to acknowledge H2: Relationships not Structures
that the leaders role has to switch from providing the
answers to asking the questions. Such questions Hierarchists have long resorted to rules and the
demonstrate that the problem facing the organization is enforcement of rules through power to solve problems
not of the common-garden variety this is something and while this may be effective for routine (Tame) aspects
different that needs a different response. In other words of hierarchies or for Crises, it is clear from the work on
the leader should initiate a different narrative that social networks and systems theory that organizational
prepares the collective for collective responsibility. Indeed, structures are empty vessels until populated by the
the reason that this sits within the Hierarchists camp is relationships that make them work. In other words, a
that only the hierarchical leader has the authority to university building without students or teachers is not a
reverse his or her contribution from one of answers to one university. Thus while we regularly restructure our
of questions. organizations (the National Health Service has been
restructured almost every year for the last 25 years) the
If we consider the pre Katrina briefing for George Bush by perception of those working within restructured
his experts it perfectly encapsulates the approach in organizations is often that little has changed.This is usually
reverse. When Max Mayfield, National Hurricane Centre because we have mistaken the structure for the
says to the President, I dont think anyone can tell you relationships that make the structure work. Indeed, it is
with any confidence right now whether the levees will be probably true that good relationships can transcend a
topped or not but its obviously a very very grave concern, poor structure but not the other way around.
there is no resulting question from Mr Bush such as So
what will happen if the levees are topped? Or, If that Traditionally, change models imply that if failure occurs
happens what do we need to be prepared for? Similarly, despite the model it must be because the leader has failed
when Michael Brown, Director FEMA, tells him, My gut to pull the right levers in the right sequence. But this
tells me this is going to be a bad one and a big one I machine metaphor and its accompanying notion of
dont know whether the dome roof can withstand a cat 5 power as a possession is precisely why leaders find
hurricane, the President does not say So where can we change so difficult because power is not something you
put these people that would be safe? Again, note here can possess and thus there are no levers to pull. If power
that we should not expect Mr Bush to know the answer to was a possession we would be unable to explain why
the problems caused by a category 5 hurricane that is mutinies occur in that most coercive of hierarchies, the
not his job; but his job is to categorize problems and if military at war. If soldiers refuse to obey (and accept that

11
 Academic Paper

the consequences may be dire) then generals are Individualist

necessarily resistable in principle. Hence when you here
yourself saying the dreaded words Im sorry but I didnt I1. Positive Deviance not Negative
have any choice you are almost certainly lying to Acquiescence
yourself because you can always say no and take the
consequences. Of course, sometimes the choice is merely In 1990 Jerry and Monique Sternin went to Vietnam for
one of two evils, but that remains a choice. Now all this Save the Children to consider the utility of Maria Zeitlins
means that change cannot be ordered from above by (1990) work on Positive Deviance: the idea that there were
leaders who pull the right levers of power in the right people within organizations who had already worked out
sequence because power is a relationship and change the solution to many organizational problems often
depends upon the relationships between leaders and related to the role of culture. Why, the Sterns wondered,
followers: in effect it is followers that make or break were some Vietnamese children well nourished in the
change strategies not leaders alone because midst of general malnourishment? Their answer was
organizations are systems not machines. If followers because the mothers of the well-nourished children were
choose not to obey or to comply is such a way that little Positive Deviants they deviated from mainstream
progress is made then the greatest strategy in the world culture in such a way that the outcomes were beneficial
will probably fail. for their children. That mainstream culture generated a
very conventional wisdom on malnutrition it was TBU:
true but useless that malnourishment was the combined
H3: Reflection not Reaction effect of poor sanitation, poor food-distribution, poverty
and poor water. But since addressing all of these would
The quest for decisive action is typically what we expect take an inordinate amount of time it was True but Useless
from our hierarchical leaders and this expectation has a information. On the other hand, some children and not
long history back into the fabled past of heroes and gods. the highest status children were well nourished because
Indeed, being decisive is fine - if you know what to do their mothers ignored the conventional culture that
but if you know what to do then it isnt a Wicked Problem mothers should:
its a Tame or Critical Problem. However, if you dont know
what to do such pressure may lead to catastrophe: you Avoid food considered as low class/common such as
may have acted decisively but that may be decisively field shrimps and crabs
wrong. It isnt good enough to say that the best course of Not feed children with diarrhoea
action in an ambiguous situation is to do something Let children feed themselves or feed them twice a day
rather than nothing for two reasons. One, if you are very at the most.
close to the cliff edge and the fog descends
(metaphorically or in reality) then acting decisively might Instead they:
take you over the edge. If, on the other hand you just
pause for as long as the mist persists then you might be Used low class/common food
late home but at least you will get home. Two, we often Fed children with diarrhoea its critical to recovery
conflate doing nothing with reflection but they are not Actively fed children many times during the day (self-
the same thing. The former implies indecisiveness, fed children drop food on floor so its contaminated
indolence and weakness, while the latter implies a and childrens stomachs can only take a finite amount
proactive philosophical assessment of the situation. of food at any one time so even feeding them twice a
Indeed, we could turn this issue around and note how day was inadequate).
often being decisive actually can be reduced to mere
reaction, being driven by somebody elses agenda or by The second element of this approach having
the insecurity of an ambiguous situation to make a understood the dangers of negatively acquiescing to the
mistake. Again, the hierarchical leader can manage this dominant culture and worked out how the individualist-
best by the construction of a narrative explanation to do oriented positive deviants succeeded in raising healthy
otherwise is to risk being accused of weakness and children, was to persuade the positive deviants to teach
indecisiveness. So what can the Individualist offer us to the rest of the community their techniques. In short the
support the Hierarchist? technique requires the enabling of self-adopting
behaviours not the teaching of new knowledge in a class-

14
 Academic Paper

room. Of course, for external experts, the realization that anxiety of ambiguity that is a condition of Wicked
your role is extremely limited runs against the grain but Problems.
these problems are not vehicles for ego massages. The
second of the individualist techniques worth considering
is that of Negative Capability. I3: Constructive Dissent not Destructive
Consent
I2: Negative Capability Finally, Individualists are excellent at resisting the siren
calls of both hierarchists and egalitarians to fall in line,
The poet Keats called Negative Capability1 the ability to either to the rules or the group. Since Milgrams (1961) and
remain comfortable with uncertainty, and Wicked Zimbardos (2008) infamous compliance experiments in
Problems are inherently uncertain and ambiguous. Worse, 1960s we have known that most people, most of the time,
since we seem to have developed an image of leadership comply with authority even if that leads to the infliction of
that conjoins decisiveness to success we expect our pain upon innocent others, providing the rationale is
leaders to cut their way through the fog of uncertainty accepted by the followers, they are exempt from
with zeal. Yet by definition Wicked Problems remain responsibility, and they engage in harm only
ambiguous, so the real skill is not in removing the incrementally. Put another way, the difficulty for our Leader
uncertainty but in managing to remain effective despite it. facing a Wicked Problem and seeking to use elements of
Steins (2004) comparison of decision-making in Apollo 13 the hierarchist and the egalitarian in a Clumsy approach is
and at Three Mile Island captures this issue well in not of securing consent but dissent. Consent is relatively
situations where experience is critical to providing help in easily acquired by an authoritarian but it is cannot address
stressful situations. Thus the cosmology episodes that Wicked Problem because such consent is often
strike both Apollo 13 and Three Mile Island when the destructive: subordinates will acquiesce to the enfeebling
world no longer seems a rational, orderly system- provoke of their organization rather than challenge their boss
different responses from those responsible for decision- through Constructive Dissent. Destructive Consent, then,
making, or rather, what Weick (1995) calls sense-making - is the bedfellow of Irresponsible Followership and a
imposing a framework of understanding upon a literally wholly inadequate frame for addressing Wicked Problems.
senseless world. 55 hours into the 1970 Apollo 13 mission
a loud explosion the cosmology episode left the An alternative approach is to start from the inherent
astronauts short of food, oxygen, power, water and hope. weakness of leaders and work to inhibit and restrain this,
But avoiding the natural temptation to jump to rather than to assume it will not occur. Otherwise,
conclusions the ground crew through slow, careful although omniscient leaders are a figment of
analysis of the problems and through the construction irresponsible followers minds and utopian recruiters
of a makeshift carbon dioxide scrubber (typical of the fervid imagination, when subordinates question their
bricoleurs approach) enabled Apollo 13 to return safely. leaders direction or skill these (in)subordinates are usually
In contrast, in the 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear disaster replaced by those more aligned with the current strategic
the Cosmology episode led to instant actions being thinking otherwise known as Yes People. In turn, such
taken which unwittingly made the situation worse. In subordinates become transformed into Irresponsible
effect they were decisive but wrong and just to Followers whose advice to their leader is often limited to
compound the situation they then denied any evidence Destructive Consent: they may know that their leader is
suggesting that the problem had not been resolved. So wrong but there are all kinds of reasons not to say as
the ability to tolerate anxiety but to ensure it does not much, hence they consent to the destruction of their own
become excessive (leading to panic) or denied (leading to leader and possibly their own organization too. Only
inaction) generated different sense-making actions. In the individualists are likely to save us from this danger
Apollo 13 case sense-making facilitated anxiety toleration because they so often deny the authority of either the
while action was taken to resolve the problem; on Three hierarchy or the group to make decisions on their behalf.
Mile Island sense-making subverted the anxiety and So what about egalitarians why do we need them?
ensured subsequent inaction which compounded the
problem. Thus, the quest for the certainty of an elegant
solution is sometimes a mechanism for displacing the

11
 Academic Paper

Egalitarians undone by their own belief structure because it reduced

them to a Fatalist Community.
E1: Collective intelligence not individual
genius There are many contemporary equivalents to this
narrative of fate. For example, Anne Glover, a local
Typically, we attribute both success and failure to community leader in Braunstone, Leicester, is credited
individual leaders. In fact the more significant the success with turning her own fatalist community into a
or failure the more likely we are to do this, even though we community of fate when she mobilized her local
usually have little evidence for linking the event to the neighbours to unite against the gang of youths engaging
individual (Bligh and Schyns, 2007; Rosenzweig, 2005). Yet in anti-social behaviour and ruling their council estate
when we actually examine how success and failure occurs through fear. Such fear effectively demobilized the
it is more often than not a consequence of social rather community, turning it into a disparate group of isolated
than individual action. For example, Archie Norman, the individuals all complaining about the gang problem but
British retail entrepreneur, rescued Asda from near feeling unable to do anything about it. When Glover
bankruptcy in 1991 and sold it to Wal-Mart for 6.7bn in persuaded a large group to go out as a group and
1999. But underlying this phenomenal success was not confront the gang, the gang moved on and were
the work of an isolated individual genius but a talented eventually removed from the estate. As Glover insisted, It
team including, at board level Justin King (subsequently never ceases to amaze me how a minority can control an
CEO Sainsbury), Richard Baker (subsequently CEO Boots), area where a majority of people live... all because of the
Andy Hornby (subsequently CEO HBOS), and Allan fear factor. If you stick together on an issue they cant
Leighton (subsequently Chair Royal Mail). In short, Asdas intimidate you.(BBC One, 2008).There is more to this than
success was built on collective intelligence not individual simply being brave enough to do something and willing
genius. This approach is particularly important to Wicked to take the risk that it will not be easy; it is about
Problems because they are not susceptible to individual recognizing the importance of building social capital to
resolution. In other words, Wicked Problems demand the develop an identity that generates a Community of Fate
collective responses typical of systems not individuals it the identity must be collective, but the responsibility must
is the community that must take responsibility and not be individually shared for Wicked Problems to be
displace it upon the leader (Heifetz, 1994).This brings us to addressed.
the next aspect of Egalitarian techniques: building a
community of fate.
E3: Empathy not Egotism

E2: Community of Fate not a Fatalist Finally, the last Egalitarian technique lies in the ability to
Community step into anothers shoes, to generate an empathy that
facilitates understanding of the other and is a pre-
When Hernan Cortes arrived in what is now Mexico in requisite for addressing Wicked Problems, but how might
1519 he had barely 400 soldiers, 16 horsesmen and a few we acquire it? Jones (2008) answer is to become an
cannon, yet this motley group managed to displace the anthropologist of your own organization, to walk a mile in
Aztec Empire that had dominated the region for a century. the shoes of those of the shop floor, to become a mystery
Cortes began his conquest by turning his followers into a customer of your own bank or hospital, to experience the
Community of Fate by literally burning their boats where life of those whom you want to engage in the collective
they landed on the coast to prevent any thought of effort because if you cannot understand how they see the
escape home at this early stage. Thus the Spaniards were problem how can you mobilize them? This is radically
inescapably linked to each others fate but had a different from our usual methods for acquiring knowledge
compelling reason to ensure collective survival. As Cortes about how our organizations work because we know that
recruited anti-Aztec Indian allies to attack Moctezumas what people say in focus groups or in surveys does not
Aztec empire it became clear to the Aztecs that Cortes represent how they normally see the world they are
was not merely an outsider intent on harm but their god artificial environments and provide artificial data. Many
Quetzalcoatl who had been predicted by Aztec prophesy CEOs and corporate leaders already do this but many
as the white skinned bearded god who would return to more do not, and then find themselves surprised when
reclaim his kingdom. In effect, the Aztecs were partly the bottom of the hierarchy doesnt respond in the way

14
 Academic Paper

that the focus group or latest staff survey had predicted. self-supporting such that different groups understood the
For example, several Chief Constables in the UK ensure world differently and generated different responses to the
that they and their senior officers go out on patrol once a same apparent problem. However, these Elegant modes of
month, not to check up on more junior officers but to understanding, while often satisfactory for addressing the
remind themselves of the kind of problems they face on a Tame or Critical Problems that cultures face, were unable
daily basis. As Sean Price, Chief Constable of Ceveland to address the complexities of Wicked Problems. For
Police noted,Being a Chief Constable is a bit like being a Wicked Problems the role of leaders was to acknowledge
member of the royal family You end up thinking the that they did not have the answer to the Wicked Problem
whole world smells of fresh paint, (The Times Online, and to engage the community to address the problem.
2008). Equally revealing is the Association of Chief Police That meant adopting the role of the bricoleur, the
Officers (ACPO) response to the request for information makeshift craftworker who eschews the blank paper
from Janes Police Review (2008) as to how often Chief beloved of architects starting de novo, and made do with
Constables around the country went on the beat whatever was to hand, stitching together a pragmatic
themselves? Judging (chief ) police officers by when they nay Clumsy solution using all three Elegant modes of
last made an arrest (said an ACPO spokesperson) is a poor understanding.
indicator of performance. ( This is not just a
demonstration of the poverty of assumption that being Such a path requires the wisdom that Aristotle called
on the beat means being measured by the number of phronesis which allowed leaders to use their experience to
arrests a targeting culture that behoves a Tame response recognize that each situation was unique and thus not
to often Wicked Problems. Equally important, it assumes susceptible to expert resolution but sufficiently familiar for
that Chief Constables should be distant from the reality of the bricoleur to deploy an array of techniques that might
policing on the beat and should instead spend their time help reframe the problem and galvanize the collective to
designing yet more beautifully crafted strategies and action. In other words, it requires a form of action that
targets in the sure and certain knowledge that it will be of focuses directly on fixing the problem itself, not a form of
marginal significant at best. re-education or reskilling that fixes the people. For Aristotle
this kind of wisdom the ability to see the good and
realize it in each specific situation was not a set of
Conclusion universal rules to be learned or a pocket guide to be
drawn upon for the correct solution but something only
I began this chapter by suggesting that the high achieved through experience and reflection. Partly this
proportion of organizational change failures might be the was because phronesis relates to the skill of what we now
result of assuming that all kinds of change were call apperception, that is, the ability to relate new
susceptible to the same kind of change programme experiences to previous experiences, in other words to
when, in fact, change is often radically different. A typology recognize patterns in situations that facilitate
to facilitate this understanding was then outlined that understanding and resolution. By definition, this is
differentiated between Tame, Wicked and Critical something that we can only acquire through experience
Problems and linked them to Management, Leadership but experience alone is insufficient to ensure
and Crises. I suggested that while Tame Problems could be apperception because some level of reflective learning
solved by adopting the Standard Operating Procedures needs to have occurred if patterns are to be understood
that have worked before for managers, Critical and Wicked (Schon, 1987). In effect, apperception is the ability to frame
Problems embodies radically different change or reframe situations (Fairhurst, 2005) so that what
methodologies. Critical Problems were the responsibility appeared to be one thing might actually be another or,
of Commanders who had to act decisively to provide the more often, what appeared to be senseless could be
answer to the problem, but Wicked Problems were often made sense of, often retrospectively (Weick, 1995). Thus
either novel or intransigent and were the providence of only by addressing Wicked Problems by doing
Leadership. leadership - can we achieve the wisdom of leaders (Grint,
2007).
This then took us in the cultural theory of Mary Douglas
whose Grid/Group dimensions allow us to plot four The techniques relating to Wicked Problems tend to
different cultures: Hierarchist, Egalitarian, Individualist and emerge from one of the three Elegant frames, thus from
Fatalist.These cultures tend to be internally consistent and the Hierarchists we considered the role of asking

11
 Academic Paper

questions not providing answers, the issue of relationships Grint, K, (1995) Management: A Sociological Introduction,
over structures, and of reflecting on rather than reacting to Polity Press.
Wicked situations. From the Individualist we considered
the importance of Positive Deviance not Negative Grint, K, (2005) Problems, Problems, Problems: The Social
Acquiescence, the encouragement of Constructive Construction of Leadership, Human Relations, 58,11, 1467-
Dissent over Destructive Consent and the role of Negative 1494.
Capability. Finally, from the Egalitarians we considered the
use of collective intelligence not individual genius, the Grint, K, (2007) Learning to Lead: Can Aristotle Help us Find
building of a community of fate not allowing a fatalist the Road to Wisdom?, Leadership, 2, 2, 231-46.
community to prevail, and to adopt an empathetic rather
than an egotistic approach. I will finish with this quote Heifetz, R A, (1994) Leadership Without Easy Answers,
from Laurence J. Peter: Some problems are so complex Harvard University Press.
that you have to be highly intelligent and well informed
just to be undecided about them. Howieson, B, and Kahn, H, (2002) Leadership, Management
and Command: The Officers Trinity in Gray and Cox (eds.)
Air Power Leadership: Theory and Practice, HMSO.
References
Jackson, P, (1995) Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons for a
Ariely, D, (2008) Predictably Irrational: the hidden forces that Hardwood Warrior, Hyperion.
shape our decisions, HarperCollins.
Janes Police Review, 1 August 2008.
BBC One, (2008) Panorama: Taking Back the Streets, 3
March 2008. Janis, I L, (1982) Groupthink, Houghton Mifflin.

Bligh, M C and Schyns, B, (2007)The Romance Lives On: Jones, A, (2008) The Courage to Innovate, Triarchy Press.
Contemporary Issues Surrounding the Romance of
Leadership, Leadership, 3,3, 343-60. Levi-Strauss, C, (1966) The Savage Mind, Oxford University
Press.
Bratton, J, Grint, K, and Nelson, D, (2004) Organizational
Leadership, South-Western College Publications. Milgram, S, (1961/2005) Obedience to Authority: An
Experimental View, Pinter and Martin.
Chapman, J, (2004) System Failure: Why Governments Must
Learn to Think Differently, Demos. Mlodinow, L, (2008) The Drunkards Walk: How Randomness
Rules our Lives, Allen Lane.
Douglas, M, (2008/1966) Purity and Danger, Routledge.
Nye, J S, (2004) Power in the Global Information age: From
Douglas, M, (2003/1970) Natural Symbols, Routledge. Realism to Globalization, Routledge.

Etzioni, A, (1964) Modern Organizations, Prentice Hall. Pascale, R, (1990) Managing on the Edge, Viking.

Fairhurst, G, (2005) Reframing The Art of Framing: Problems Rittell, H and Webber, M, (1973) Dilemmas in a general
and Perspectives for Leadership, Leadership, 1, 2, 165-86. theory of planning, Policy Sciences, 4, 155-69.

Festinger, L, Riecken, H W and Schachter, S, (2008/1956) Rosenzweig, P M, (2007) The Halo Effect & Eight Other
When Prophecy Fails, Pinter and Martin. Business Delusions that Deceive Managers, Simon &
Schuster.
Gabriel, Y, (2002) Essai: On Paragrammatic Uses of
Organizational Theory A Provocation, Organization Schn, D A, (1987) Educating the Reflective Practitioner, John
Studies, 23, 1, 133-51. Wiley.

14
 Academic Paper

Seddon, J, (2008) Systems Thinking in the Public Sector, Defence Academy of the United Kingdom
Triarchy Press. Shrivenham
SN6 8LA
Stein, M, (2004) The Critical Period of Disasters: Insights Tel: +44 (0)1793 314467
from Sensemaking and Email k.grint@cranfield.ac.uk
Psychoanalytic Theory, Human Relations, 57, 10, 1243-61.

Tavris, C, and Aronson, E, (2007) Mistakes were Made (but not 1 In a letter to George and Thomas Keats on 22/12/1817
by me), Harcourt. John Keats wrote

I had not a dispute but a disquisition with Dilke, on

tHart, P, (1994) Groupthink in Government: A Study of Small
various subjects; several things dovetailed in my
Groups and Policy Failure, John Hopkins University.
mind, & at once it struck me, what quality went to
form a Man of Achievement especially in literature
The Times Online, (2008) In the professional press:
& which Shakespeare possessed so enormously - I
building health and wellbeing, social stresses, top brass
mean Negative Capability, that is when man is
gets beat, 24 June 2008. Accessed August 2008
capable of being in uncertainties, Mysteries, doubts
without any irritable reaching after fact & reason.
Verweij, M, (2006) Is the Kyoto Protocol Merely Irrelevant?
in Verweij, M and Thompson, M, (eds) Clumsy Solutions for
A Complex World: Governance, Politics and Plural Perception,
Palgrave/Macmillan.

Verwiej, M, Douglas, M, Ellis, R, et al, (2006), The Case for

Clumsiness in Verweij, M and Thompson, M, (eds.) Clumsy
Solutions for A Complex World: Governance, Politics and
Plural Perception, Palgrave/Macmillan.

Watters, B, (2004) Mission Command: Auftragstaktik, paper

at the Leadership Symposium, RAF Cranwell, 13 May.

Weick, K E, (1993) The Collapse of Sensemaking in

Organizations: The Mann Gulch Disaster, Administrative
Science Quarterly, 38, 628-652.

Weick, K, (1995) Sensemaking in Organizations, Sage.

Zeitlen, M, (1990) Positive Deviance in Child Nutrition, United

Nations.

Zimbardo, P G, (2008) The Lucifer Effect: How Good People

Turn Evil, Rider & Co.

Corresponding Author

Keith Grint
Professor of Defence Leadership & Deputy Principal
(Management and Leadership)
Defence Leadership & Management Centre
Defence College of Management and Technology
Cranfield University

11