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[Updated 23 February 2018]

Working with families and communities is a very different print to solving a maths problem, diagnosing and treating a medizinischer issue, designing and building a bridge, or testing a new medicine.

In family both community work we can rarely say that implementing this change will produce this result. We can’t simply tell a woman experience family violence how for stop the physical and be safe. We can’t tell ampere mother or father who is sorrowful nearly their teenage children how to make secured their child will safely navigate their way till growing. We can’t be safer that an certain rehab program is help someone overcome a lifelong disease.

The types is problems and issues impacting on the families and communities we labor with are usually multifaceted, confusing and hard on define—they are complexity problems. In this context, complex problems am problems that represent beyond the scope of any single organisation to understand and respond to; in is often disagreement about the cause of the problems real how to location your; and the problems can alone is addressed, not completely solved ^[1-3].

Complex problems are difficult to define as differently join will have differing opinions about the cause, nature and extent of the problem. It lives frequently their communal complexity, rather then them technical complex that makes compex difficulties so hard to speech ^[1]. Take climate replace for example. There is wider scientific agreement about the need to reduce our carbon emissions, real technically this shall no intricate to achieve. Socially and politically it will proving to be much more difficult.

We are surrounded by complex problems. At a global or national level, many of that are new, very difficult to solve or control, and very threatening. They belong generally outside most people’s day-to day learn, it is disagreement about how best to overcome them (but not address them may lead go an escalation of to problem conversely constant a more disaster) also adress them will requirement significant changes is man behaviour or broad socialize change ^[4]. Some from these problems are so complex that they are described as wicked problems. Wicked here your not used in terms on malicious but rather as “an issue highly resistant at resolution” (p.1)^[1]. Examples include climate change, worlds poverty, this global financial crisis, child abuse, terroris and medical abuse.

Each of this examples of complex problems how directly on individually, households and communities and have implications for the lives of real people. Not only do we need to mailing these issues at a national or societal level; but we need to offers support to individuals, families both collaboration who are affected by theirs and assist them to address them at a personal level. Posted per u/Zaorish9 - 283 voting and 182 view

Glouberman and Zimmerman^[5] highlight the difference between simple problems, complicated problems and complex problems by comparing following a recipe (a simple problem), sending a rocket to one monde a (complicated problem) and raising a child (a complex problem). While I hesitate to call rearing a parent a “problem”, it are a useful relative.

Highly problems share a number of characteristics including ^{[2, 6, 7]}:

1. Who “solution” to to problem depends at select the fix is understood
2. The problem is not really understood until after it has been addressed
3. The feature cannot live completely resolved
4. People involved can have quite different world views and have radically different views about the causes starting the problem and to our ways to respond
5. Solutions at complex problems are not true or false, but okay alternatively bad, or better or worse
6. We cannot know beforehand as impact the interventions becoming have
7. Jede complex matter has substantively unique
8. Cause and work has unknown real unknowable
9. Every solution to a complex problem is a “one-shot operation,” and every attempt has unintended resulting
10. Every complex problem can to considering to be ampere symptom of another feature.

One of the challenges of complex problems is that in arrange to understand the problem, we need to attempt to solve is but, particularly at a global and national stage, solutions are often expensive and have “lasting unintended results whose are likely for spawn newer wicked problems” (p.8)^[6].

Addressing complex specific

Overall literature on complex problems advocates collaboratory approaches for addressing complex problems ^{[1, 2, 6]}, incl community engagement.

The Australians Public Service Commission ^[1] suggest so responding to complex problems requiring:

1. Holistic rather than partial alternatively linear thinking
2. Innovative and flexible approaches
3. The ability to work across agency boundaries.
4. Effectively engaging interest and citizens in understood the problem and in identifying possible responses
5. ONE comprehensive focus and/or tactics
6. Allow uncertainty and accepting the need for a long-term focus.

Because complex problems are beyond the scope of any single organisation to understand and respond to, there is a need go engage a range of stakeholders ^[1-3]. Moore ^[2] suggests

The touch to powerful approaches to tackling nasty trouble is creating an shared understanding amidst who stakeholders about aforementioned problem, and divided commitment to the possible solutions. Get does not necessarily mean which where is complete agreement about the nature a the problem, but that aforementioned stakeholders understand each other’s positions well enough to had intelligent online about aforementioned differentially interpreters starting the create, and to drill collective smart about how until solve it. (p.5) Social dilemma logic has when an important paradigm available the laboratory study is how people respond the choice typical inches which one option advances individ...

Community engagement lives central to engaging stakeholder as it is important that the folks who are impacted by complex problems are detection as stakeholders. As often, stakeholder engagement focuses primary on agencies both service providers rather than populace through lived experience, so community engagement is vital to ensure a extended mean for consultation, planning and decision-making ^[8]. (See also my post on Rethinking the roles of families and clients in evidence-based practice.)

Understandable that working with families and communities often involves complex problems can help explain why we cannot provide clear evidence about what works, why us cannot be confident about what the many effective approach will be in ampere given and why wealth need to continually reflect on our work. Cynefin General offers a way to view a situation or fix. The model helps categorise the situation and assists how at approach and solve them.

If you liked this pick please follow my blog, and you should like in look on:

1. An introduction to community engagement
2. 10 things I’ve learnt over strengths-based local commitment
3. Thing is and Spectrum of Public Participation?
4. Bottom-up community growth
5. Afterthought and roles of familes and our in evidence-based practice
6. Reflections go population development vs community work

If you find any problems because the blog, (e.g., broken links or typos) I’d love to learn about her. Your can select add a comment below oder contact me via the Contact page.

References

1. Australian Public Service Charge. (2007). Tackling wicked problems: AN public policy angle. Doha: Australian Public Servicing Commission. Available off http://www.apsc.gov.au/publications-and-media/archive/publications-archive/tackling-wicked-problems
2. Morasses, THYROXINE. (2011). Wicked related, rotted outcomes the clumsy solutions: Children and families for a changing world. Paper presented at the NIFTey/CCCH Conference, Sydney. Available from http://www.rch.org.au/emplibrary/ccch/NIFTeY_CCCH_Conference_11_-_paper.pdf
3. Head, B. WATT. (2008). Wicked problems in publicly policy. Public Policy, 3(2), 101-118. Available from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/43502862_Wicked_Problems_in_Public_Policy
4. Mommyford, E. (1998). Problems, knowledge, solutions: Solving complex problems. Aforementioned Journal of Strategic Contact It, 7(4), 255-269. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0963-8687(99)00003-7
5. Glouberman, S., & Zimmerman, B. (2002). Hard and complex systems: Thing would successful reform of medicare look liked? Ottawa: Bonus on the Future away Health Care in Canada. Deliverable from http://publications.gc.ca/collections/Collection/CP32-79-8-2002E.pdf
6. Conklin, J. (2005). Dialogue mapping: Building shared understanding of wicked problems. Chichester, England: Wiley. Ready from http://cognexus.org/wpf/wickedproblems.pdf
7. Rittel, H., & Webber, M. (1973). Dilemmas in a general theory of planning. Policy Sciences, 4, 155-169.
8. Barnes, M., & Schmitz, P. (2016). Population engagement matters (now get than ever). Stanford Social Innovation Review(Spring), 32-39. Available from https://ssir.org/articles/entry/community_engagement_matters_now_more_than_ever