The Complexity of Wicked Problems in Large Scale Change

This paper 1) elaborates the framework of organizational change to extend the traditional boundaries of organizational change to include large system change (LSC) requiring multi-sector interventions; 2) integrates, synthesizes, and describes different dimensions of complex adaptive systems (CAS) and wicked problems from various strands of literature as they apply to large systems change; and 3) provides a conceptual understanding of the integration of CAS, wicked problems, and systems change. Ultimately, we provide change agents wherever they might be with actionable recommendations to assess their own understanding of the systems that require change and how these are linked to wicked problems and CAS so they can influence more positive, sustainable, large system change. Change agents, from the point of view of CAS, are actors who can be found anywhere within the large system undergoing change, who are attempting to move an organization or institution in a different direction than it is currently moving, whether through policy, personnel, resource, technological, financial, or other means.

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