How to see your way through wicked problems (Shot of Wonder #13)

Dear Tracker~

I know problem-tracking might sound like some cute idea you don’t have time for.

But problem-tracking ultimately could save you time and grief and expense.

It’s a more patient and even wondrous approach than default problem-solving.

Especially if you have what

Marty Neumeier

calls a “wicked problem.”

If you’re a leader facing a complex problem with your team’s structure or an entrepreneur or business owner who knows you need to rethink your business model or a writer trying to untangle a complicated plot,

but you tend to ignore the problem or want to find the seemingly easiest solution so you can just move on,

hear me out today.

Today’s Shot of Wonder follows up from Think & See Like an Anthropologist.

In this Shot of Wonder, you can come with me in the woods (hear the sound of crunching leaves?) to

• learn what a wicked problem is and how to identify yours

• what happens in the human brain when avoiding problem-tracking

• learn what Dan Pink calls “Symphony” and why fostering it could be to your advantage

• two practices to problem-track with wonder

• get a little spontaneous inspiration from William Blake

How we see

shapes how we solve.

That’s what I’m wondering.

Psst…The first Shot of Wonder was free (as will always be the Wonder Dispatch). If you’d like more Shots of Wonder—and a say in shaping what comes next—consider upping your wonder ratio. You’ll gain access to the full Shot of Wonder Library, our Tracking Wonder Handbook, worksheets, or beta Tracking Wonder Endeavor Canvas, and more.

More good things ahead. Thanks for being here.