Cullen Krieg

Dr. Jack

CODES

21 September 2023

Henry Shaw the Wicked Problem

The problem that we are trying to solve is about the past of the Botanical Garden and how Henry Shaw should be recognized as someone completely different. This problem is very vast and can connect to the characteristics of a wicked problem in every way. The characteristics are: Vague problem definition, undefined solution, no endpoint, irreversible, unique, and urgent. I believe that our problem fits within all of these characteristics because no matter what Henry Shaw will always have an impact on the Botanical Garden in both the positive way and the negative way. 

Henry Shaw has the characteristic of “vague problem definition” because there are so many more people related back to the Botanical Garden and those stakeholders may not want to hear what we have to bring up about Henry Shaw the Botanical Garden’s history. Those stakeholders may have invested or donated towards the Botanical Garden and with this new information becoming more relevant it could lead to less attraction towards the attraction which would be bad for the garden. 

He is also considered to be as an “undefined solution” because there’s always going to be an answer to everything but there is always going to be opinions towards that solution causing it to be undefined. One opinionated solution could have a worse outcome than the other opinionated solution which will lead to more undefined information. 

The third is very self-explanatory, “No End Point” Henry Shaw’s past with the Botanical Garden that got “covered up” ultimately will have no end point ever. Many individuals will not see eye to eye as we do. We may think we have solved a certain problem, but a deeper dive will show that there is more to the problem than just the small part we solved. Another is that we may think we have solved the problem, but we should never give up, we should always want to try and have a better solution arise from more understanding. 

Another way Henry Shaw has one of the characteristics of a Wicked Problem is that some may think coming up with a solution is irreversible and will cause more problems. This can be true, however as long as you see it as the “No End Point” characteristic then you will be able to stop the spread of the non-understatement of the newly arised solution. Some may also see Henry Shaw’s past to be irreversible because they may not want to bring up the past and what actually took place at the Botanical Garden. 

Our problem is very unique because not many people know about the nasty past that Henry Shaw had to do with the Botanical Garden. Us being the younger generation trying to inform more mature individuals about this past brings the uniqueness because in my eyes the elders should be teaching the youngsters, however the roles are reversed in this situation. In the description it says that a solution will not work the same in every different place. This is very similar to our problem because a solution about a certain subject that has to do with Henry Shaw personally won’t work with a problem that is generalized about the plants in the Botanical Garden. 

The sixth and final reason is the most important. Henry Shaw’s problem is very urgent, we should strive to find many different solutions as quickly as possible. The quicker we can inform others about our wicked problem the more people may want to join. As though if we don’t find a solution it won’t harm anybody but that’s not what we as a class signed up to do. We chose that we want to branch out and help the community and that’s the intended purpose of our class. 

All in all, Henry Shaw and the past that is connected to the Botanical Garden is our wicked problem. The characteristics that are explained in the book all relate back to our problem in many different ways. I tried to explain it in the ways I understood the characteristics and how they will fit with our problem.