Ill-Structured Problems

Key attributes of ill-structured problems:

• The problem is not preformulated.
• Boundaries of problems are fuzzy and part of the problem.
• There are multiple formulations and multiple solutions, resolutions, dissolutions, and absolutions.
• The definition(s) of the problem(s) change throughout the inquiry process.
• The solution(s) to a problem is (are) a function of the mess as a whole, not any one of its parts.
• The means and the ends are unknowns.
• Stakeholders disagree on the definition of the problem and that the means will achieve the ends.
• Problems are dynamic; they change in response to our working on them.
• Problems are not the exclusive province of any single discipline or profession.