Navigating Wicked Problems Through Collective Learning: Lessons from Learning Circles and Change Laboratory

Abstract Organizations increasingly face wicked problems; complex, systemic challenges that defy simple solutions and span multiple boundaries. In Nordic welfare and educational contexts, such problems call for participatory approaches that enable collective learning and adaptive responses. This article examines how two collective learning methods, Learning Circles (LC) and the Change Laboratory (CL), operationalize cross-boundary framing and collaborative inquiry in practice. While both share core values of dialogical engagement, co-creation, and inclusivity, they differ in structure and tools. Drawing on two empirical cases, a LC process in Danish elderly care and a CL intervention in a Finnish university hospital, we analyze how practitioners engaged with wickedness, how problems were navigated, and what kinds of responses emerged. Findings show that neither method seeks to eliminate complexity; instead, they transform how practitioners work with it. In the LC case, dialogical practices reframed recruitment and retention challenges as collective learning opportunities, turning tensions into objects of inquiry and enabling small cross-boundary try-outs. In the CL, the wickedness of an organizational merger became a catalyst for collective learning, as iterative cycles of critique, analysis, and modelling supported the development of a shared tool for coordinating workflows across clinics. Across both cases, participatory interventions surfaced contradictions, supported experimentation under uncertainty, and fostered reflexive practices. The article contributes to debates in vocational and workplace learning by offering empirically grounded insights into designing collective learning processes for navigating wicked problems.