Mene ne wicked problem? Wicked problem shine social or planning problem so complex, interconnected, and contested that it has no definitive formulation and no final solution — a term coined by Horst Rittel and Melvin Webber in 1973.
Wicked problem shine ill-defined: yadda kake frame it already shapes what counts as a solution, and different stakeholders legitimately define it differently. It has no stopping rule (there is no point at which it is 'solved'), its solutions are good-or-bad rather than true-or-false, and every intervention is a one-shot operation whose consequences you cannot fully test in advance — so trial-and-error is unsafe and every attempt matters. Horst Rittel and Melvin Webber coined the term in their 1973 paper 'Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning' and set out ten defining properties. Classic examples include climate change, homelessness, healthcare policy, and organizational strategy. Wicked problems defeat the linear 'define, analyze, solve' approach that works on tame problems; progress instead comes from building shared understanding across stakeholders, mapping the dialogue and issues (as in dialogue mapping and IBIS), deliberating in a structured way, and keeping the reasoning visible. Argumentree supports this by structuring the competing arguments, capturing the reasoning behind each, surfacing where a group stands, and letting the map be revisited as understanding evolves.
Mene ne Wicked Problem?
Wicked problem shine complex, ill-defined problem that has no clear definition, no stopping rule, and no true-or-false solution — where every attempt to solve it changes the problem itself. The term was coined by Horst Rittel and Melvin Webber in 1973 to describe the messy, contested problems of social planning and policy.
Last updated: 2026-07-04
In short
A wicked problem shine problem that is ill-defined, has no stopping rule, has only good-or-bad (never true-or-false) solutions, is essentially unique, and where every intervention has lasting consequences — so you can't safely trial-and-error your way to an answer. Coined by Rittel and Webber (1973), the term names problems like climate change, homelessness, and healthcare policy that resist the linear 'define, analyze, solve' approach which works on tame problems.
The ten characteristics of a wicked problem
- 1
Ba a bayyana ta yadda take
Ba a samu bayanin daya, da aka amince da shi na abin da matsalolin nan ke. Yadda kake bayyana shi a yanzu tausaya abin da ke cikin sulhu.
- 2
Ba a samu matsaya
Ba a samu wata matsaya da ake ce ta karewa. Ka dai kare saboda kana rashin lokaci, kudi, ko kishin zuciya — ba saboda aka sulheshi ba.
- 3
Suluhu suna da kyau ko maku, ba gaskiya ko karya
Ba a samu gwajin da zai nuna amsa gaskiya. Masu sha'awar keɓantaccen sulhu suna ganin shi a matsayin mafi kyau ko maku, daga ibadat daban-daban.
- 4
Ba a samu gwajin da zai nuna sulhu a gaba ko ƙarshe
Ba za ka iya gwajin sulhu gaba daya; sakamakonsa suna tafiyar da lokaci kuma ba za ka iya gani ba duka.
- 5
Kowace sulhu ita ce aiki daya
Ba a samu gwajin da ake kira da aminci; kowace shawarwari ta canza hali kuma ta bar alama, don haka kowace jarabawa ta yi matukar muhimmanci.
- 6
Ba a samu jerin suluhu
Ba a samu jerin suluhu da za a iya zaɓa daga ciki; wane zaɓi za a iya la'akari dashi shi ne lallai ya zama hukunci.
- 7
Muhimmanci daban
Kowace matsala mara kyau take daban. Darussan daga wata hukuma ta gabata ba za ta iya canza ta yadda take ba, saboda yanayin ya daban.
- 8
Alama ce ta wata matsala
Kowace matsala mara kyau take haɗe tare da wata. Ka dai sulhunta a matakin daya zai iya sauya matsalar da take amsa ta yadda take.
- 9
Bayanai suna da tasiri ga sulhu
Matsalar take da yawa; bayanin da kake zaɓa zai yanke hukuncin irin sulhu da za a nema.
- 10
Masani ba shi da haƙƙin zama ba da gaskiya
Kama dai masanin kimiyya da ke gwajin ka'ido, wanda ke shawo kan hukunci ana ba shi alhakin sakamakon duniya na zama ba da gaskiya.
Rittel and Webber laid out these ten properties in their 1973 paper. The through-line: a wicked problem can't be cleanly defined, can't be finally solved, and can't be worked on well unless the reasoning — and the disagreement — is made explicit.
Why traditional problem-solving fails on wicked problems
Wicked problems — climate change, homelessness, healthcare policy, organizational strategy — defeat the linear 'define, analyze, solve' playbook for three connected reasons:
Matsalar ba ta da kwana
Hanyoyin liniya suna fara da bayyana matsala, amma matsala mara kyau take kasa amincewa da bayanin daya — bayanin take amsa take da kanta, kuma take canza yayin da kake aiki dashi. Ba ka samu abin da zai iya karewa kamar yadda hanyar take nema.
Ba za ka iya gwajin aminci
Matsalolin da za a iya sulhanta suna barin ka gwaji, kasa, gwaji; matsalolin mara kyau suna daya — kowace shawarwari ta canza hali ta duniya kuma tana da sakamako na dindindin, don haka babu gwajin da zai iya canza zuwa ga amsa.
Rarrabuwa ce abin da ke ciki, ba sauti
Hanyoyin liniya suna neman amsa gaskiya. A kan matsala mara kyau, adawa da bayanai suna da muhimmanci — masu sha'awar daban-daban suna bayyana ta daban, kuma hakan ba za a iya sulhanta shi ba.
How Argumentree helps teams work on wicked problems
You can't 'solve' a wicked problem the way you solve an equation, but you can make real progress on it. The approaches that help share a common thread: building shared understanding across stakeholders, mapping the dialogue and the underlying issues (as in dialogue mapping and IBIS), deliberating in a structured way, and keeping the reasoning visible so a group can see where it stands and why. Argumentree is built around exactly this:
Tsara masu adawa
Kowace bayanin da aka gabatar da shi da zaɓi an yi ta hanyar bada shawara ta hierarchical pro/con, don haka masu sha'awar da suke da haƙƙi za su bayyana a gefe guda au dai suka haɗa su cikin amsa daya 'da gaskiya'.
Ruba hujja
Kowace hujja, adawa, da cinikin za a iya yi an rubuta da hujjatu, don haka zaton rukuni ya kasance a matsayin abin da za a iya kafa shi fiye da sauran magana da taro.
Nuna inda rukuni yake
Darajar da aka yi ta kowa ina nuna waɗanda hujja rukuni take ganin su a matsayin mafi kyau da inda take ganin su a matsayin adawa, don haka bayanai masu adawa za su bayyana fiye da amincewa da su.
Komawa yayin da fahimta ta ke ci gaba
Saboda matsalolin mara kyau ba su da matsaya da za a iya canza su, hanyar hujja take ci gaba: za ka iya komawa, rufe abin da ka ke ganin, saita hoton saboda hali ta canza.
Argumentree doesn't claim to 'solve' wicked problems — nothing does. What it offers is a way for a group to reason about one together and keep that reasoning structured, visible, and durable as understanding evolves.
Explore further
Mene ne bayanin hira?
Yadda magana ta rukuni take a kan hira a lokaci guda cikin IBIS na tambayoyi, ra'ayoyi, da hujjai — hanyar da ke da muhimmanci ga matsalolin mara kyau.
Mene ne shawarwari ta haɗin gwiwa?
Yadda rukuni zai iya yanke shawara tare, a gani, lokacin da babu wanda yake da hoton gaba daya.
Mene ne shawarwari?
Ka'idojin yadda mutane da rukuni ke yanke shawara — da inda hujja take rasa.
Hujjar ruwa ga manufar jama'a
Tsara hira da ke buɗe, da ke adawa, kan al'amuran jama'a — gida na asali na matsalolin mara kyau.
Frequently asked questions
Mene ne matsala mara kyau?
Matsala mara kyau take matsala da ke da wahala, ba a iya bayyana ta yadda take ba, ba a iya kare ta ba, ba a iya gwajin ta ba — sai dai mafi kyau ko maku zai iya kare ta daga ibadat daban-daban. Kowace shawarwari da ake yi ta canza matsala kuma tana da sakamako na dindindin, don haka ba za a iya sulhanta ta ba kamar yadda matsala mai kyau take.
Wane ne ya ƙirƙiri kalmar matsala mara kyau?
Kalmar an ƙirƙiri ta ne ta masanin zane Horst Rittel da masanin gine-gine Melvin Webber. Sun gabatar da ita a shekarar 1973 a takardarsu 'Dilemmas a cikin Ka'idojin Gaba da Gaba', wanda aka buga a jaridar Policy Sciences, inda suka bayyana sifofi 10 da ke bambanta matsalolin mara kyau daga na mai kyau.
Mene ne misalanin matsalolin mara kyau?
Misalanin na al'ada suna zuwa daga tsare-tsare na zamantakewa da manufa: canjin yanayi, rashin gida, talauci, kiwon lafiya da manufar magunguna, martani ga cutar, da gyarawa. Suna zuwa a cikin ƙungiyoyi — tambayoyi kamar tsare-tsare na dogon lokaci, canji na al'ada, ko yadda za a iya sake tsara kamfani suna da irin wannan halin mara kyau: bayanai masu adawa, ba sulhu mai kyau ba, da sakamako da ba za a iya gwajin su ba.
Mene ne ya bambanta matsala mara kyau daga na mai kyau?
Matsala mai kyau take mai bayanin da ke da kyau, tana da matsaya, da gwajin da zai nuna sulhu — ko da yake take da wahala kamar matsala ta injiniya ko lissafi. Matsala mara kyau take ba a iya bayyana ta yadda take ba: ba a iya kare ta ba, ba a iya gwajin ta ba, ba a iya canza ta ba, ba a iya kammala ta ba. Matsalolin mai kyau za a iya sulhanta su; matsalolin mara kyau za a iya kula da su da kawar da su.
Za a iya sulhanta matsalolin mara kyau?
A'a, ba a yadda amsa ta ƙarshe da gaskiya take — ita ce abin da take yi ta mara kyau. Amma za ka iya ci gaba da su. Ci gaba ya zo daga gina fahimta ta haɗin gwiwa tsakanin masu sha'awar, shawarwari a hanyar da ke da tsari, da kulla hujjai masu adawa a gani don rukuni ya iya kai wa sakamako da kuma komawa zuwa ga su yayin da hali ta ke canza — fiye da neman amsa gaskiya da ba za a iya samu ba.
References & further reading
Rittel, H. W. J., & Webber, M. M. (1973). Dilemmas a cikin Ka'idojin Gaba da Gaba. Policy Sciences, 4(2), 155–169.
Takardar asali da ta ƙirƙiri kalmar 'matsala mara kyau' da ta bayyana sifofi 10 da ke bambanta matsalolin mara kyau daga na mai kyau. An ambaci suna; duba jaridar Policy Sciences don rubutun asali.
Conklin, J. (2006). Dialogue Mapping: Gina Fahimta ta Haɗin Gwiwa game da Matsalolin Mara Kyau. Wiley.
Ya faɗaɗa ka'idojin zuwa aikace, ya gabatar da bayanin hira da rubutun IBIS a matsayin hanyoyin da rukuni zai iya ci gaba da matsalolin mara kyau. An ambaci suna.
Hukumar Sabis na Jihar Australia (2007). Shawarwari kan Matsalolin Mara Kyau: Manufar Siyasa.
Rahoton gwamnati da aka ambata da yawa wanda ya ƙirƙiri kalmar matsala mara kyau zuwa manufar siyasa. An ambaci suna; duba Hukumar Sabis na Jihar Australia don sigar da ke nan.
"Matsala mara kyau" — tarihin ma'ana
Tarihin ma'ana na kalmar, asalinta da Rittel da Webber, sifofi 10, da misalanin na yau da kullun. Amfani ne ga mai farin jini.
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Structure the competing arguments, capture the reasoning behind each, and keep a living map your team can revisit as understanding evolves — so the messiest problems stay workable together.
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