Navigating Wicked Problems in Project Contexts: Adaptive Leadership as a Theoretical Lens for Understanding Project Managers’ Practices

Abstract

This study examined how project managers navigate wicked problem dynamics in project environments with ambiguous problem definitions, contested stakeholder interests, evolving constraints, and no definitive solutions. Drawing on eight nested discussion sessions comprising 24 small-group conversations with 168 experienced project professionals across diverse industries, supplemented by 12 follow-up interviews, the study used a theory-informed abductive qualitative design. Adaptive leadership and wicked problem concepts informed the discussion prompts, whereas initial coding remained open to participants’ accounts rather than applying a predetermined adaptive-leadership coding framework. We then iteratively interpreted emergent patterns using wicked problems theory, adaptive leadership, and sensemaking as sensitizing theoretical lenses. The analysis identified five recurring adaptive practices: diagnostic framing, collaborative sensemaking, situational awareness, emotional regulation, and transparent communication. These practices illuminate how project managers develop workable problem definitions, engage competing perspectives, and coordinate action when technical expertise and established plans are insufficient. The study provides an empirically grounded account of leadership practice in temporary organizations and identifies practice-oriented implications for responding to wicked problem dynamics within time-bounded project settings.