A Wicked Good Year

Spending a year of my childhood outside of Boston, I was introduced to the regional phrase “wicked awesome.” A usage of wicked as an adjective that I quickly learned was meant to push the scales beyond just your plain old “awesome.” Years later I read Wicked by Gregory Maguire, a novel that turned Oz’s wicked witch of the west into a misunderstood heroine. Now, I’ve come across a Harvard Business Review article about Strategy as a Wicked Problem (http://hbr.org/2008/05/strategy-as-a-wicked-problem/ar/1) that states:

“A wicked problem has innumerable causes, is tough to describe, and doesn’t have a right answer, … environmental degradation, terrorism, and poverty—these are classic examples of wicked problems. They’re the opposite of hard but ordinary problems, which people can solve in a finite time period by applying standard techniques. Not only do conventional processes fail to tackle wicked problems, but they may exacerbate situations by generating undesirable consequences."

I have “wicked” on my mind these days. Nonprofit organizations exist because we live in a world of wicked problems. We don’t have to look much farther than our own mission statement to see an example. And where business and government approaches struggle at coming up with strategies to tackle these problems, we step in, roll-up our sleeves, and work on very meaningful and effective solutions. As we start a new year, I encourage all of us to take ownership of our wickedness. So here are three thoughts on dealing with wicked.

First – Admit the wicked truth and acknowledge that our missions exist to solve tough, complicated problems. This does not mean give in to pessimism and complacency. Rather we should embrace that we cannot know the right answer without exploring, taking risks, reflecting, and being humble about our work. Giving ourselves room to deeply explore the nuance, diversity, and even the frustration of the problems we work to mitigate will create opportunities for innovation and inspiration.

Second – Speak out and challenge the misperceptions and labels. There are still too many people that do not understand what we do. They talk of service, charity, and community development but often don’t credit the people and organizations that actually turn those ideas into real change within our communities. Don’t let the nonprofit sector get painted with ill-informed statements and scandalous accusations. We are not the wicked witches and warlocks of the west trying to avoid taxes, we are the heroes that are maximizing the impact of every resource we can access to tackle the real wicked problems out there.

Third – Know that you’re wicked awesome. We are nonprofit organizations made up of hardworking, professionally trained, committed, and highly motivated staff and volunteers. We are willing to take on wicked problems and see the better angels of the world.

So join in nonprofit wickedness this year by tackling the hard challenges, letting the world know about our heroism, and just generally being awesome.