We are working with the Missouri Botanical Garden to figure out the context of Henry Shaw and how the wicked problems discussed in the early chapter of our reading show up in the events that have taken place. These wicked problems are not just your normal problem that can be easily resolved in one solution. Instead these wicked problems dig deep into understanding the timeline and history of Henry Shaw and the relationship that is connected with the Missouri Botanical Garden. The first characteristic of a wicked problem is a vague problem definition. This means that there are multiple stakeholders involved, such as the people who work at the garden, the community that lives around the garden, potential local officials that are in higher power over certain communities, and others. These are all major factors that go into consideration where everyone might not agree that the research, knowledge and the history of Henry Shaw and the garden people might not want to hear.
More people of color would like for this topic to be revealed and spoken on because this is something that is a part of the history of African Americans and the US. If certain people do not want to listen to the truth that Henry Shaw was indeed an enslaver and there is evidence in documents that proved he was in favor of slavery. A question that I asked myself is how can you free an enslaved person but then send bounty hunters after them to return them to where they belong. Knowing the gardens beauty now in the 21st century to ever think that such wicked and cruel actions took place there most people would never know the truth.
Another characteristic that is talked about is No Endpoint/ Undefined solution. I paired these together in a way because they somewhat intertwine with one another and especially in the context with the Garden. With the garden one way is to engage with the public about the history of the MBG, we could also work with the space that is currently being worked on in the basement as a starting point to showcase the unsung history with Henry and the garden. By definition unsung is not being noticed or praised but in the context of this situation there are many things that need to be brought to light and given recognition so people can wake up and understand that the garden is not just this beautiful colorful place but in fact where you could have been standing was where slaves once stood before. We may in fact come up with those solutions but one size does not fit all. We could potentially use the basement and turn that into a history museum timeline of events. That could be a possible solution and could work but in the long run months later the Garden could start losing money because some people might not agree or like what we did on our part to reveal the true past. Another characteristic is Irreversible and this is important because given the situation and context once we as a team implement ideas we will either come to more problems or more possible solutions. Once we are working with the gardens and start telling our story, there is no going back to not doing anything at all. The people will either love or hate what changes we made and if so then we have to continue to make impactful changes. Second to last wicked problem is Unique. If a solution works for one problem in one area it might not work in other spots. This brings me back to that undefined solution: you can’t come up with one possible outcome and expect it to work and solve everything because it won’t.