Horst Rittel and Melvin Webberin distinguish between the nature of problems in natural science and social science as such: a problem in physics or chemistry is generally a "tame problem”, soluble by applying the correct algorithm; meanwhile, a problem related to public policies is a "wicked problem" – difficult to define, involving many stakeholders, while the measurement standards are highly subjective and tend to change all the time. Therefore, solutions for natural science problems simply don’t apply to social science problems.
Professor Bao Yongjian from Fudan University School of Management emphasizes that, business managers must keep in mind that it’s impossible to root out problems; what we can do, however, is to transform a crisis into a problem under control. To quote the late organizational scholar Russell L. Ackoff: “Managers don’t solve problems; they manage messes.”
