"Wicked" Problem Solving: Groups or Individuals? Who's Better?

I was recently posted a link on research reported in Science Daily by a student from Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management, in the Entrepreneur department.  The title ( Complex 'Wicked' Problems Better Solved Individually Than Through Internet Groups) and findings of the linked research should be interesting to all of us who look at web/group collaboration and in general believe that multiple minds looking to solve a problem have to be better than a single mind, and that web-based, group collaboration, must be one (of many) great facilitators.

Well, if you read the research, clearly that was not the case here.  As I was reading the study for the first time, I was looking for the obvious thing we must have all been missing as we have lived, breathed and blogged about the hypothesis above.

As I got to the end, what was evident in the research as one of the central reasons for their surprising findings was the form of the tools they used.  While not exactly clear what software or functionality they were provided, it seems to suggest that relatively static web pages, with little group interaction other than possibly the latent back and forth that individual postings might allow.  Your standard single-threaded Lotus Notes Application or Sharepoint Portal pages. 

The conclusion by the researchers, I think, vindicates better forms of group/web-based collaboration by suggesting that "...in coming years 'better software, including threaded discussions with moderators to focus the work and prediction markets to evaluate quality, will become tools that large organizations will use to solve wicked problems." 

Real time, threaded group discussion that were self-moderated was at the core of Parlano's offerings.  We understood that concept from the very beginning.  But what really made it successful was the way in which you could participate in multiple discussions (or solve many "wicked problems"), at the same time.  I wish it were as easy as focusing on a single problem.  The reality is our professional careers are littered with multiple "wicked" problems/issues that require our attention to varying degrees, day to day.  Speed and resolution matter when competing, and that's exactly what persistent group chat allowed professionals to accomplish.

Comments

[Peter]

I definitely agree that the power of the many solve problems much faster than the power of the one - but I do find, given the right tools, that the individual can come up with a more creative solution on their own than by being misdirected by other group members not in their "head space"

One tool I'll be using all the time from now on it "Jack's Notebook" by Gregg Fraley. It's in the new genre of "business fable" and it tackles the concepts of creative problem solving as a novel, with plot, story, characters, while subtly weaving in the techniques of CPS as it flows along. I found it a great inspirer of ideas and think it would be a highly useful book for a young entrepreneur, because it teaches how to cope with fear by working though complex challenges in a deliberately creative way.