On the nature of problems in consulting practice

OR consultants who wish to help clients with complex policy issues need to find ways of taking account of personal and illegitimate features of a client's understanding of his situation, as well as the technical features which are usually considered. This paper is an attempt to discuss the practice of operational research in ways which reflect its political complexity, rather than the techniques, which are more commonly described in the published papers and texts. The discussion leads to the suggestion that practitioners could usefully devote some energy to reflecting upon the processes used in effective problem solving.