Jutta Eckstein: Wicked Wisdom
I recently had the chance to sit down with Jutta Eckstein, a coach, consultant, speaker, and author – as well as a former developer, like me, who developed a compiler (which is a long-lost art!) – to explore how we can bring agility into sustainability.
As we explored Jutta’s definition of a Wicked Problem, along with imparting her top three Wicked Wisdoms (listed below), she also shared the following great add-ons:
There is no obvious solution even as an expert
We cannot solve it and there is no straight path to solving it.
No one can teach how to solve it. We have to learn adaptively.
We also dove into the topic of sustainability on a large scale, during which Jutta shared with us the United Nations’ definition of sustainability: “Sustainable development must meet the needs of the present without comprising the ability of future generations meeting their own needs.” The UN has developed 17 pillars of sustainability, including poverty, inequality, clean water, and so much more.
Jutta has developed with other co-partners on how we can have conversations at the team level about sustainability. She has created a lists of questions (based on the manifesto and UN’s definition of sustainability), which can be found here, and she has an assessment that can help a team to assess where they are at and discuss where they want to action next, found here.
The best way to get a hold of Jutta is through Twitter @juttaeckstein and/or LinkedIn.
Jutta's Wicked Wisdom
1. Ask different questions
Shift the conversation by asking different questions. E.g., In the office, is the energy being used based on fossil fuel or is it renewable? Or: How did we decide who our target audience should be?
2. Make impact through role modelling
Individual steps might not have a huge impact directly, but by role modelling, your impact can be huge.
3. Do not aim at being perfect
You won’t be perfect. Nobody is perfect. And that’s absolutely ok.
