How to Solve Wicked Problems
The Different Meanings We Attach to the Night Sky
Renowned neuroscientist, David Eagleman, says that each brain creates its own unique truths. He goes on to explain that the brain which sits in the darkness deep in our skulls, takes its inputs from our senses to create the images we see, smells, and tastes we experience. The reality, in fact, as we experience it, is an illusion and is just our brain making sense of our entire subjective world.
How does this help us with wicked problems? We can get closer to resolving wicked problems by changing the way we view them. After all, it was Einstein who said that we cannot solve the problems we face today by thinking the way we did when created them.
Systems thinking helps us improve our mental models over time by getting them closer to reality1.
One of the main systems thinking tools is understanding the connection between our point of view (perspective) and reality. Perspective is the lens you and I see the world through and determines how we see ourselves, others, and everything else around us. And how the different mental models help us view the world in different ways.
One of the best ways to see the impact of these lenses is to look at the way culture shapes the way we view the constellations.
Constellations were an early attempt by the ancients to break up the night sky in easily understandable sections. They did so by finding easily distinguishable patterns in the night sky formed by stars and attributing stories or animals to these patterns. The more famous ones are the 12 signs of the Zodiac2 and the Southern Cross.
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) divide the sky into 88 constellations; of these 44 are those defined by Greco-Roman scientist Ptolemy in the 2nd century CE, which include the 12 signs of the Zodiac. The perspective of ancient Greece and Rome still make up the way we view the sky today and will shape our perspective in the future.
While Indian astrology is similar to the Western one, the objects of the stories are different. Indians see God Vishnu and Goddess Soma instead of the constellation Gemini.
Only the Australian First Nations and Incas distinguished3 between the luminous and dark clouds in the Milky Way. Today we know that the dark clouds are made up of millions of solar plasma and dust.
For the Incas, the dark clouds represented the animals coming to drink from the life-giving river, the Milky Way (Mayu). These were the Mother Llama and Baby Llama, Serpent, Toad, Partridge, Fox, and the Shepard.
In distinguishing between the luminous (stars, moons and planets) and the dark clouds of the Milky Way, the Incas used another one of systems thinking tenets - distinction. Systems thinkers look at the object in question and find the object’s “other”.
Australian First Nations and the Incas had different perspectives about the Coalsack Nebula. The Incas saw this area as Yutu, the partridge, whereas the Australian First Nations saw it as part of “Emu in the Sky”.
The Emu in the Sky perspective is fascinating in its own right. The Emu breeding season starts with the rising of the Emu in the Sky in April/May. As the Emu changes from rising to horizontal, then vertical, the breeding season goes from mating to incubation and lastly to hatching.
The Yutu on the other hand, represented the time root crops could be harvested by the Incas. Its disappearance indicated the start of the wet season.
The Emu in the Sky and the Yutu represent different systems at play - while both represent seasonality, the outcome for each is different (eggs and root crops).
The point of all this is depending on the cultural lens used, you may see the sky in different ways. The way to solve any wicked problem is to understand the lens used currently, what the different lenses are that can be used, and imagine a different future, to shape your perspective. Said another way, when you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.4
I would like to thank Drs. Derek and Laura Cabrera for their help in this blog. I am currently studying for systems thinking green belt.
About Me:
I have more than 20 years of experience in the telecommunications and IT fields. I have both a Bachelor a Computer Science and an Accounting degree. I provide process, technical and business analysis for product developments and life cycle improvements. I can be contacted to provide any blogs, marketing material, technical writing or training requirements. Please reach out to me on bhamini.runa@divergentone.com if you would like any of my services.
4/10/2021 - I am currently training in systems thinking.
This quote is from the research done by Cabrera Research Lab: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/systems-thinking
There are really 13 signs of the Zodiac; however only 12 are famous. http://astronomyonline.org/Observation/Zodiac.asp
Distinction is another tenet of systems thinking as defined by the Cabrera Research Lab.
Quote from Dr Derek Cabrera
Hi, I agree changing perspective is a useful element in helping other people solve problems. I think the first step in any problem solving, that involves multiple people, is to understand the other person(s) perspective(s). The second step is to understand to what extent are those perspectives shared. Any 'systems thinking' theory should have a method to be able to do this without coercion and manipulation of the other.
My experience is that this is sometimes the easier bit of change. The difficulty comes when you need to help people change their perspective(s) in order to solve the problem you are seeking to solve.
Have you got any views on the methods used to help shift someone's perspective? Just for context most of my experience is in the context of organisations rather than social movements as described in the previous comment.
Great article, Bhamini. We could all use more perspective. Even well intentioned people lack it immensely. E.g. the environmental movement pushes for electric cars and other expensive technological solutions that are still outside the reach of many struggling to make ends meet, instead of encouraging things like plant-based diets that are more affordable and can be implemented by people at all socio-economic levels.