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Visual Issue Mapping System: A Systematic Approach to Wicked
Problems
Visual Issue Mapping System (VIMS) is a graphical technique
for creating a shared map of a meeting discussion. A facilitator
uses the VIMS method to capture the key questions, ideas, and
arguments that come up as the discussion unfolds, recording
them in a network-like map for everyone in the meeting to see.
The technique works for any topic or problem, but seems to shine
best when used with groups that contain widely differing views
on a dynamically complex or “wicked” problem.
VIMS encapsulates the Issue Based Information System (IBIS)
structure that was developed in the early 70’s by Horst
Rittel. Rittel was seeking to help groups dealing with complex
issues, for example city planning dilemmas such as whether to
route the highway through the city or around it. Rittel also
coined the term “wicked problem” to describe such
dilemmas. In the last decade software tools have be created
to manage large IBIS maps.
Wicked Problems.
A wicked problem has four defining characteristics:
- You don’t even understand the problem until you have
formulated and perhaps even fielded a solution;
- The stakeholders (those who have a stake in the outcome)
have radically differing world views, and thus differing linguistic
frames;
- The constraints on the problem solving process - deadlines,
budgets, who is on the team, the organizational structure
- change over time; and
- The problem is never “solved” in the traditional
sense, you simply run out of resources (i.e. time or money).
The Passing of the Age of Science.
At the height of the Age of Science we had a foolproof problem
solving approach: (1) define the problem, (2) gather the data,
(3) analyze the data, (4) formulate a solution, (5) implement
the solution. This linear approach, upon which virtually all
problem solving methods are based, was understood to work no
matter how complex the problem. If your project was behind schedule
or over budget, it was simply because you had not done a good
enough job at one or more of these steps, e.g. you had not gathered
enough data. However, recent cognitive studies have revealed
that people do not actually think or learn in this linear fashion,
but rather in an opportunity-driven process that more resembles
an earthquake than a waterfall.
In the emerging era, you still need the rigor of the scientific
approach, but that alone is not nearly rich enough for the panoply
of wicked problems that face us in our organizations and as
a society. The problem solving process is now primarily social,
rather than individualistic. The process goal is a solution
that works and can be embraced by all of the stakeholders, not
“the right answer.” In this environment, a new set
of tools is needed to help groups create shared understanding,
shared meaning, and shared commitment. VIMS is such a tool.
Visual Issue Mapping System
Visual Issue Mapping System (VIMS) is based on three fundamental
ideas:
- Shared understanding and shared commitment are the key goals
of virtually all meetings;
- To create shared understanding you need a “container”
for discussion that is as robust as your project or situation
is complex;
- Such a container includes a language for discourse structure
and a shared display.
At the heart of VIMS is IBIS, a simple language for mapping
the structure of any conversation, no matter how complex or
contentious. In IBIS there are just three basic elements: questions,
ideas, and arguments (e.g. pros and cons). The ideas respond
to the questions, offering possible solutions; the arguments
argue for and against the various ideas. Questions can expand
on or challenge other questions, ideas, or arguments. Any creative
conversation - brainstorming, design, planning, analysis, problem
solving - can be captured in terms of IBIS questions, ideas,
and arguments.
VIMS is the art of using IBIS in a shared display. The shared
display could be a whiteboard or flipcharts, but the most powerful
and flexible is a computer display project coupled with a software
tool called QuestMap that can be used by groups or individuals
to create and manage electronic VIMS maps of any scale and complexity.
Facilitating a group using QuestMap and a bright computer display
screen is an especially effective way of helping a group work
through a wicked problem.
The VIMS process is not linear, and does not even require starting
with a question.Typically, however, a group starts with several
related questions of the sort “What should we do about
X?” and “How should we do Y?” Along the way,
questions of fact (“What is the case about X?”) and
meaning (“What does X mean?”) emerge and are addressed.
A complete map usually includes exploration of the questions
“Who are the stakeholders?” and “What are the
decision criteria?” As decisions are made, their full context
and rationale is recorded in the VIMS map.
The mapping process can be transparent (in the background),
or, more powerfully, the VIMS map itself can be a shared display
that is the focus of the group’s interaction. The facilitator
listens as each person speaks, capturing his or her comment
as a question, an idea, or an argument. Occasionally there are
purely informational comments that are captured as notes. From
time to time the facilitator reads back the most recent portion
of the map, validating it with the group. Over time, this process
allows each person (a) to see that the group has really heard
his or her comments, (b) to see the relationship of his or her
ideas to the others in the group, and (c) to see the emergent
thinking and learning of the group as a whole.
Coming to consensus about possible solutions is made immensely
easier when the group has a shared display of their thinking
and learning as it unfolds. As ownership in the map grows, so
does shared understanding about the problem space and shared
commitment to the solution space. When the decision gets made
there is an exceptional level of ownership and commitment to
it, as well as a concise record of the rationale behind the
decision.
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