Complex social and community problems, like improving the public schools or ending homelessness, are fundamentally different from technical problems,

and the effective exercise of leadership depends on understanding this distinction. 

Technical problems are well defined.  Their solutions are known and those with adequate expertise and organizational capacity can solve them. When an organization tackles a technical problem, it knows exactly who to fund, how much it will cost, and what the outcome will be. Examples of such problems are increasing access to higher education (by funding scholarships), increasing capacity for treating patients (by building a new hospital), increasing the efficiency of a food bank (by installing better inventory controls), or eradicating malaria (by underwriting vaccines). In each case, the problem is clear, the solution depends on well-established practices, and given enough money, a single organization can implement the solution. 

Adaptive problems are entirely different. They are not so well defined, the answers are not known in advance, and many different stakeholders are involved, each with their own perspectives. Adaptive problems require innovation and learning among the interested parties and, even when a solution is discovered, no single entity has the authority to impose it on the others. 

The stakeholders themselves must create and put the solution into effect since the problem is rooted in their attitudes, priorities, or behavior. And until the stakeholders change their outlook, a solution cannot emerge. Many fundamental social problems that community organizations seek to address – from reforming education to ending hunger and homelessness – are adaptive.