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Language, when you need it
Search concise C2 rules, vocabulary and speaking phrases without leaving the course to hunt through past lessons.
What it is
Wicked problems are messy, interconnected issues with no clean solution. This vocabulary — layers, loops, lock-in and second-order effects — lets you describe how they behave.
Form
| Form | Pattern | Model sentence |
|---|---|---|
| Layers | surface issue + underlying layer | On the surface it's a staffing problem, but underneath it's a funding layer. |
| Loops | cause feeds back into effect | Low morale causes turnover, and turnover causes lower morale — a loop. |
| Lock-in | early choice + ongoing constraint | The old system caused lock-in, so switching now would cost too much. |
| Second-order effect | direct effect + knock-on consequence | Cutting the bus route saved money directly, but it raised congestion as a second-order effect. |
Use it when
- You're analysing a complex policy or organisational issue.
- You want to explain why a quick fix made things worse elsewhere.
- You're describing a self-reinforcing cycle that's hard to break.
- You need to show that an early decision is still shaping current options.
Examples
- There's a loop here: delays cause stress, and stress causes more delays.
- We're locked in to this supplier because switching would break three other systems.
- The obvious layer is cost, but the deeper layer is a lack of trust.
- Raising prices had the second-order effect of pushing customers to a rival for good.
- Every fix seems to open up another loop somewhere else in the system.
Watch out
✗ Treating a wicked problem as if it has one root cause.
✓ Describe it in layers, since several causes usually sit on top of each other.
Wicked problems rarely reduce to a single cause.
✗ Ignoring second-order effects when proposing a fix.
✓ Ask what knock-on consequences the fix might create elsewhere.
A solution that ignores second-order effects can create new problems.
✗ Confusing lock-in with simple habit or preference.
✓ Reserve 'lock-in' for cases where switching carries a real structural cost.
Lock-in specifically means past choices constrain present options.
Remember
A wicked problem has layers you can peel, loops you can trace, lock-in you can name, and effects that ripple beyond the obvious one.
Quick check
- 1. What is a 'loop' in wicked-problem vocabulary?
Reveal
A cycle where a cause feeds back into its own effect, reinforcing itself.
- 2. What does 'lock-in' describe?
Reveal
A situation where an earlier decision now constrains current options because change is too costly.
- 3. What is a second-order effect?
Reveal
A knock-on consequence that follows from a direct effect, often unintended.