Wicked problems are typically compound effects of multiple points of systemic dysfunction. Shift of focus from symptoms to systems is the shift from the domain of problems to the domain of solutions.

The point here is that when you are trying to 'solve a problem' you may be struggling against the whole system or multiple systems (Washington-Wall Street is an example).  

As tool builders we are responsible for not giving people tools that will inadvertently be suicide weapons; how can we make sure that the tools we give them truly enable solution – and inhibit traps and vicious cycles.

Plato's Cave metaphor applies here: Problems are shadows of systemic dysfunction. As such they are not something we can grasp and work with. Unlike the systems.

The paradigm shift metaphor (specifically shift from Geocentric to Heliocentric view as textbook example) applies here: There is in principle no reason why we should not place the origin of the coordinate system on our home planet; the only trouble is that the models then become immensely complicated – and need to be fixed and corrected. Similarly, trying to understand individual problems – and handle them based on such understanding – may lead to increasing complexity, and be doomed from the start.

The Club of Rome position: Focus not on problems, but on the problematique.