Wicked Problems, Knowledge Challenges, and Collaborative Capacity Builders in Network Settings

TLDR

Networks are increasingly studied for their ability to solve complex problems, yet managing them is challenged by the difficulty of transferring, receiving, and integrating knowledge among participants. The study aims to explore how network managers can address wicked public problems by examining their mindset as collaborative capacity builders. The authors propose that managers’ mindset directs the use of skills, strategies, and tools to promote knowledge exchange and develop sustainable collaborative problem‑solving capacity.

Abstract

Networks have assumed a place of prominence in the literature on public and private governing structures. The many positive attributes of networks are often featured—the capacity to solve problems, govern shared resources, create learning opportunities, and address shared goals—and a literature focused on the challenges networks pose for managers seeking to realize these network attributes is developing. The authors share an interest in understanding the potential of networks to govern complex public, or “wicked,” problems. A fundamental challenge to effectively managing any public problem in a networked setting is the transfer, receipt and integration of knowledge across participants. When knowledge is viewed pragmatically, the challenge is particularly acute. This perspective, the authors argue, presents a challenge to the network literature to consider the mind‐set of the managers—or collaborative capacity‐builders—who are working to achieve solutions to wicked problems. This mind‐set guides network managers as they apply their skills, strategies, and tools in order to foster the transfer, receipt, and integration of knowledge across the network and, ultimately, to build long‐term collaborative problem‐solving capacity.