wicked problem
Intractable policy challenge
A wicked problem is one that resists solution because it's tangled with other problems, lacks clear boundaries, and changes as you try to solve it.
Poverty, climate change, and healthcare reform are classic examples—addressing one aspect shifts others, and stakeholders disagree on what success even looks like.
The term originated in urban planning and design theory.
Housing affordability is a wicked problem with no clean fix.
- intractableImpossible to manage
- complexHaving many interconnected parts
- dilemmaForced choice between undesirables
- tangled webComplex network of deceit
- quagmireSoft, wet ground
situation · feedback loops · ill-defined · moving target · stakeholders · herding cats · hydra · unintended consequences · multifaceted · conundrum · systems thinking · challenge · interconnectivity · root cause · controversial · social · climate change · sticky wicket
wicked, problem, wick, wickedly, wickedness, problematic, problematically, problems