Ivan Udelll A
Policy and Complex Systems - Volume 3 Number 1 - Spring 2017
The Four Dimensions of Complexity : Using Framing in Resolving Wicked Problems ( Poverty in the U . S .)
The nature of complex problems requires policymakers to move from outdated twentieth century problem-solving methodologies that consume time , effort , and money without significant resolution . Complex social problems , such as U . S . poverty , call for policymakers to abandon failing policy and seek alternative fluid and adaptive approaches . Complexity science has led to better understanding of complex environments , but since its emergence in the 1980s has yet to deliver an explicit process that appropriately analyzes complex problems . Operationalizing such a process can be met with skepticism , but is essential in providing a focus or starting point for complex problem analysis . Dietrich Dörner laid the framework for a fluid and adaptive approach by identifying seven attributes of the four dimensions of complexity - chaos theory , complexity theory , paradox theory , and the concept of time . The poverty stricken rural north Florida town of White Springs is presented as a case study for “ framing .”
Keywords : poverty , complexity , wicked problems , Dörner
Introduction
I intend to investigate the nature of complex social problems that plague policymakers who seek to resolve them . With this article , I assess the family of complexity theories — chaos , complexity , and paradox along with the concept of time — the underlying cause of human failure in solving social problems . Scholar Dietrich Dörner laid out the attributes for this human failure in his 1996 work The Logic of Failure . In this article , I attempt to align these attributes with the family of complexity theories in order to construct a four-dimensional model of complexity . I propose “ framing ” as a tangible resolution method to abate problems that are characterized by the four dimensions of complexity . Lastly , I propose a study that measures effectiveness of this resolution method .
Over the last 25 years , much has been written about how organizations attempt to endure in the face of complex problems ( Richardson , Cilliers , & Lissack , 2001 ). Complexity-theory studies have recommended how organizations should restructure as well as how they should be managed in order to withstand complex problems ( Richardson , Cilliers , & Lissack , 2001 ). Further , complexity science has emerged as a means to address these needs ( Richardson , Cilliers , & Lissack , 2001 ). However , Richardson , Cilliers , and Lissack ( 2001 ) assert that it ( complexity science )
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University of Oklahoma doi : 10.18278 / jpcs . 3.1.5
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