Intransigent Problems

Although they look just like any other problem, intransigent problems refuse to be solved. The closer you move towards defining a solution, the more the problem itself becomes redefined, and the more the solution ceases to be valid.

Such problems are generally rare in normal day-to-day business, but they do crop up with surprising regularity during strategic planning sessions, especially those involving the merger of two or more organizations.

The tools and techniques used for intelligence analysis can also be applied in the treatment of intransigent problems.

The tools and techniques will not produce a solution (for if they did, the problem would not be intransigent), but they will help you get a better understanding of the problem, and its complexity.  This knowledge helps you to decide how best to manage the problem and the situation.