Wicked Crises and the (In)capacity to Act

Abstract

A crisis is a juncture that demands decision and action. We live in times of wicked crises, that is, crises that are non-linearly interlinked; transgress organizational, institutional, and cultural boundaries; and can be addressed only collectively. Our chances to rise to wicked crises depend on our capacity to decide and to act in concert, which is power, according to political philosopher Hannah Arendt. In this essay, in honor of Administrative Science Quarterly’s 70th volume, I highlight different features of wicked crises and discuss two interrelated forces that weaken and undermine such power: first, organizational fragmentation, which results in governance complexity and fault lines, and second, societal fragmentation, which manifests in growing distrust in core cultural institutions, polarization, the loss of a shared lifeworld, and the rise of authoritarianism. I conclude with a call to action for our discipline.