Others have already cited two of Rittel's papers published in 1972 and
1973 as early sources for the idea of "wicked problems." The term was no
doubt Rittel's. But, first mention of it is made by the management
philosopher, C. West Churchman, where he attributes the term to Rittel.
The full citation is:
C. West Churchman. "Wicked Problems," Guest Editorial,
Management Science, 14: B141-142, 1967.
The Churchman editorial is a gem for those interested in this kind of
thing. I encourage you to check it out! Two years ago, at the conference
of the Association of the Collegiate Schools of Planning in Tempe,
Arizona, I had organized a paper session on Rittel's contributions where
Don Schon (MIT), Ernest Alexander (Wisconsin-Milwaukee), J.P.Protzen
(Berkeley), Michael Teitz (Berkeley), and I (USC) had presented papers.
Mel Webber, (Rittel's coauthor in his 1973 paper) was in the audience. I
would be happy to share more on this with interested subscribers of this
list. I don't usually follow the learning-org list but I can be reached
at <nverma@rcf.usc.edu>
My forthcoming book "Similarities and Systems. The Search for a New
Rationality for Planning and Management," (In Press. Jossey Bass
Publishers/ The New Lexington Press Imprint, San Francisco, CA) also has a
discussion on "wicked problems." The book should be available March 1,
1998 from Jossey Bass Publishers/ The New Lexington Press. Some of my
other works also develop Rittel's ideas further. I would be happy to
provide citations to those interested.
Niraj Verma
Assistant Professor
School of Urban Planning and Development
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA
--Niraj Verma <nverma@rcf.usc.edu>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>