The differences between simple problems and wicked problems affect the way you deal with them, so it is very important to understand (and agree) how to talk about and work with these problems. This means challenging every assumption you have that an obstacle, problem or mess is made up of a simple or tame problem – it is very likely that it is

In terms of Strategic Foresight, messes are obstacles in your path to a preferred future – the “what could stop you” influencing not just the future that you want to get to, but also how you get there.

Messes are exacerbated by complexity. Complexity tends to encourage fragmented thinking (which isn’t a good thing if you want to manage a mess) by making it more difficult to get to a shared, agreed understanding of a mess.

Questions can open the mind to possibility; enquiry is the source of creativity and innovation.

Systems try to maintain equilibrium through feedback (which in the case of a PC usually means it tells you to reboot).

You can learn to extend your ability to think into the future and this is very important if you want to develop your Strategic Foresight muscles further.

A system has a purpose, even if it is changing and emerging or you can’t see what it is (or it isn’t a system)

You can’t problem-solve your way into the future – problem-solving works on what is happening today by applying what has worked in the past.

Rather, it is what is termed a wicked problem, where no definition can be agreed between stakeholders and which cannot be completely ‘solved’.