Tame problems, poor solutions

When we talk about problem-solving, it is useful to distinguish between “tame” and “wicked” problems.

Tame problems are resolvable and typically have an optimal solution. While they may be complicated, there’s a “correct answer”: a puzzle may have many pieces but there’s one way to make them fit. Wicked problems involve a multitude of interconnected factors, are complex (rather than complicated), and cannot be entirely resolved. Complexity is typically due to having unclear links between cause and effect, multiple stakeholders with conflicting objectives, and ambiguity over what constitutes “success.” Examples of tame problems range from how to manage queues in a steady state to how to assemble a car. Examples of wicked problems include combating poverty, tackling climate change, and reacting to a pandemic.

Years of management research and practice have given us pretty much all the answers to tame problems, with some theorems and practices dating from decades ago - Little’s law on waiting times in queues is from 1954! Research now is much more focused on complex, wicked problems and their implications for leaders, managers, and society more broadly.

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But what about management practice?

Here’s a personal anecdote: yesterday I was flying to Milan from Birmingham, UK.

Airports are in a very privileged position compared to other service providers, because they have pretty much all the data they need: they know how many flights are departing, how many passengers have bought their tickets, how many will check in their bags, etc. Unless there are major disruptions, matching capacity and demand, and providing a smooth service are tame problems. And still… we had to queue for 90 minutes to check in our bag (for all EasyJet flights, there were only two desks open and chaotic scenes); the conveyor belts were broken so we had to put our large bags on top of others on large carts; and security had only 30% of the gates functioning. Poor customer service was not due to complex, unexpected factors, and not even to high demand (the airport was half empty).

When I tried to ask staff why we had to queue for so long, at the bag drop I was told, “you must wait, darling” and then, at security, I was told to “f… off.” What a perfect start of the Christmas holiday!

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Looking around the airport, it was obvious that employees were not only rude, but also demotivated and poorly managed, with many areas completely understaffed and others full of people twiddling their thumbs. Capacity planning, scheduling, rostering, managing queues … these are trivial tasks in this type of context.

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I thought to myself: if humans are so bad, AI will save us by making this service entirely automated!

And then I turned around: all the automated check-in machines were broken and the screen reporting the departure times had been removed. We may have to wait a little bit more…

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What does this episode tell us about the reality of management today?

Sadly, as the “knowing-doing gap” tells us, knowing what should be done doesn’t mean that we will do it.

Or perhaps some people don’t even have a clue!

Being an optimist, I strongly believe that bad management (and resulting poor customer experience) can and should be eradicated. Perhaps it’s down to us, as employees and customers, to stop accepting it as an unavoidable fact of life!

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