The rumours are true.

The SDGs might not be achieved by 2030.

Not because we, as a people, didn’t try to “solve” them.

But because many of the SDGs are wicked problems.

Wicked problems cannot be “solved.” That’s the wrong approach.

In fact, many developmental issues experienced by Emerging Markets and Developing Countries (EMDCs) are wicked problems.

And as public leaders, social enterprises, and business CSR teams, you understand this firsthand.

Often, they are not problems that end; rather, they evolve into new sets of problems. So, you have to keep solving the evolving problems.

As Keith Grint, Professor Emeritus at Warwick University, describes it, sometimes, you have to acknowledge that some wicked problems do not have answers, or at least not easy ones.

The best we can hope to achieve is to stem the problem, not eliminate it.

Poverty, climate change, food insecurity; these are not ‘solvable’ in the traditional sense.

They morph, they adapt, and so must we.

Here’s how to approach them instead:

Acknowledge that you can’t face them head-on

Wicked problems don’t respond to direct solutions or brute force.

This is majorly because they cut across several spheres of life; social, environmental, governance, and developmental.

It’s like trying to crack open a coconut by head-butting it (I’ve tried it) or using a cutlass.

For a long time, cutting coconut looked like an extreme sport to me because cutlass was almost always involved.

Never looked like something you could achieve without force.

But you know what?

It doesn’t have to be that hard. Some problems are not meant to be faced head on.

Throwing more policies, money, or frameworks at them doesn’t work if the approach is rigid.

Instead, accept that the challenge is dynamic.

The best way forward often involves small, iterative steps rather than grand, sweeping interventions.

Go around them with a workaround

Sometimes, the best way to tackle a wicked problem is to go around it.

Continuing with the coconut analogy, you can crack open a coconut by

• first wet its exterior with running water (or soak it) for a couple of minutes, then
• go around its equator while using the blunt part of a knife to hit it as you go
• After a couple of hits, it will crack open.

Simple. Patient. No brute force.

​See how I did it here (from 0.59).

Instead of fighting food insecurity by only increasing production, address logistics, food waste, and access.

Instead of directly attacking poverty with cash transfers, create systems that allow wealth to circulate more equitably.

Charge EMDCs with a goal to increase GDP by a consistent figure for a number of years to allow for compounding. Thomas Pickety, in his book, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, demonstrated the importance of compounding returns on modest and sustained growth.

The point is wicked problems have multiple entry points.

If one strategy isn’t working, shift perspectives and try another.

The goal is progress, not perfection.

Keep at it

Because they are never completely solved.

Climate change mitigation will never end.

Social inequality will never be permanently erased.

Food security will always require new approaches as populations grow and environments change.

The key is to stay adaptive. Keep iterating. Keep tweaking. Keep tinkering.

In development, business, and governance, the real win isn’t in solving wicked problems but in managing them effectively over time.

So, stop waiting for the perfect fix.

Start somewhere.

Tinker away.

And keep solving.