In 1959, Hickling received a Diploma of Architecture from The Royal West of England Academy School of Architecture (RWA) in Bristol, UK. In 1970, he received a master's degree in City Planning (MCP) as well as a master's degree in Architecture (MArch) from the
Urban Design graduate program at the
University of Pennsylvania.[1]
Career
Architect
In 1959 Hickling moved from the UK to
Montréal,
Canada, where he lived for 9 years. He joined the architectural firm
Van Ginkel Associates as Chef de Bureau, working on the development of
Downtown Montreal and
Meadowvale, Ontario, a
new town community for the newly incorporated City of
Mississauga. In 1963 Hickling joined Mayerovitch & Bernstein as
project architect on one of the interconnected buildings that make up Montreal's
Underground City, a development linking offices, retail space, hotels and residential complexes to the city's entirely subterranean
mass transit system—the
Montreal Metro. During his time in Canada, he was also part of the small team that designed the
Circuit Mont-Tremblant (race track).
Planning and Strategic Choice
From 1971 to 1980 Hickling worked at the Institute of Operational Research (IOR),[2] a unit of the
Tavistock Institute of Human Relations, as a senior research scientist.[3] During his time at IOR, he was instrumental in developing the use of
Strategic Choice Theory (a dynamic socio-technical approach to planning and decision making) to help diverse groups experiencing multi-faceted challenges reach consensus.[4] In 1979 Hickling presented a paper[5] titled Using Strategic Choice as a Framework for Communication at a one-day event, OR, Social Science, and Strategic Choice, held at the
Royal Society, London, led by the
Operational Research Society.
In the 1980s Hickling's work became closely linked to environmental policy and planning, which led him to set up his consultancy firm; Allen Hickling and Associates. The company collaborated with an international network of specialists working on the processes of planning, conflict resolution, and strategic choice, while providing services in action research, training, and facilitation.[6][7][page needed] Hickling was employed by the Environment Directorates of the Dutch,[8] German, French, Italian, Latvian,[9] Estonian, Hungarian and British Governments, the
OECD, and the
European Commission,[10][page needed] to facilitate the solving of complex problems at the highest levels by enabling politicians, professionals, managers, industry representatives, and special interest groups to work together interactively.
Hickling was a founding member of the Environmental Resolve Committee, through which he worked with the
Environment Council in London. As a leading member of The Environment Council's facilitation team, he designed their consensus-building program and played a central role in developing their facilitation and mediation training program.
Writer
Hickling was a well-known lecturer and authored 8 books, including the best-selling Planning Under Pressure: The Strategic Choice Approach,[11] which provides planners, consultants, managers and students with practical ways to approach complex decision making. The SCA (Strategic Choice Approach) process is also implemented in a software tool called
STRAD (Strategic Advisor). In addition, Hickling wrote numerous papers and made many contributions to books and journals on the subject of planning and strategic choice.
Hickling was an authority on the subject of
toy forts and castles[21] and spent 30 years researching the subject. He amassed one of the largest collections of toy forts and castles in the world - half of which now resides in a museum in Cyprus. He wrote numerous articles in journals such as Toy Soldier Parade, Old Toy Soldier, and Plastic Warrior. Hickling wrote the only reference book on the subject; Toy Forts and Castles: European-Made Toys of the 19th and 20th Centuries.[22]
Car racing
Hickling raced Production Sports Cars (
TVR and
Ginetta Cars) from 1962 to 1967 in Canada and the U.S.,[23] during which time he was a National Instructor with the
Canadian Automobile Sport Clubs[24][page needed] In 1965 he won his class in the Quebec Championship, and in 1966 he did it again coming third overall.
Cricket
Hickling had a lifelong passion for the sport of
Cricket. He served as president of the
Long Itchington Cricket Club, of which he was one of the founding fathers in 1976.[25][26] He was a qualified Umpire and Senior Coach with the
England and Wales Cricket Board (Association of Cricket Officials) and (Coaches Association).
Personal life
He was married to Judith Hickling, his wife of 58 years, and had 4 children. He lived in the village of
Long Itchington, Warwickshire, England, for 52 years.
Hickling was fluent in
Dutch, which he learned with the Nuns of Vught, at the Regina Coeli Language Institute in The Netherlands.
Works and publications
Books
Hickling, Allen (1974). Managing Decisions: The Strategic Choice Approach. Rugby: Mantec Publications.
ISBN978-0-902-54009-5.
OCLC1503647.
Hickling, Allen (1975). Aids to Strategic Choice (2nd 1976 ed.). Vancouver: University of British Columbia, Center for Continuing Education.
Hickling, Allen; Hartman, R.; Meester, J.C. (1976). Werken met Strategicshe Keuze (in Dutch). Samson Uitgeverij, Alphen aan den Rijn.
Hickling, Allen; Wilkin, Luc; Debreyne, Fernand (1980). Technologie de la Decision Complexe: Des Aides pour l'Elaboration des Choix Stratégiques (in French). Tavistock Institute of Human Relations, England.
Hickling, Allen (1981). Abordagem da Escolha Estrategica (in Portuguese). Sao Paulo, Brazil.{{
cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link)
De Jong, Arnold; Hickling, Allen (1990). Mens en Beleid (in Dutch). Leiden, Netherlands: Stefert Kroese Uitgevers of Leiden.
Friend, John; Hickling, Allen (2005). Planning Under Pressure The Strategic Choice Approach (3rd ed.). Amsterdam: Elsevier/Butterworth Heinemann.
ISBN978-1-417-56916-8.
OCLC803657417.
Hickling, Allen (2015). Toy Forts & Castles: European-Made Toys of the 19th & 20th Centuries. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing Ltd.
ISBN978-0-764-34813-6.
OCLC898088145.
Book Contributions
Hickling, Allen; Sutton, Alan (1975). "Planning as a Process of Strategic Choice". In: IFHP. Papers and Prcoeedings, International Congress, Amsterdam, pp. 49–69.
Hickling, Allen; Friend, John; Luckman, John (1979). "An Analytical Framework for Inter-Organisational Coordination". In: Holm, Per. Research into Local Planning Processes, pp. 157–182. Swedish Council for Building Research, Stockholm.
ISBN91-540-3051-X.
Hickling, Allen (1982). "Beyond a Linear Iterative Process?" In: Evans, Barrie; Powell, James; Talbot, Reg. Changing Design, pp. 275–293. John Wiiley & Sons, Chichester, UK.
Hicklng, Allen (1985). "Evaluation is a Five Finger Exercise". In: Faludi, Andreas; Voogd, Henk. Evaluation of Complex Policy Problems, pp125–134. Delftsche Uitgevers, Delft, The Netherlands.
ISBN90-6562-071-0.
Sutton, Alan; Hickling, Allen; Friend, John (1986). "The Strategic Choice Approach to Managing Uncertainty". In Wilkin, Luc (ed.). The Management of Uncertainty: Approaches, Methods and Applications. Vol. Series D No. 32. Springer Netherlands. pp. 14–52.
ISBN978-94-010-8484-0.
ISSN0258-123X.
Breure, Abraham; Hickling, Allen (1990). "Coping with Unconventional Projects: a 'Socio-Technical' Approach". In:
Gareis, Roland. Handbook of Management Projects pp. 347–355. Manzsche Verlag, Vienna, Austria.
Hickling, Allen (1990). "'Decision Spaces': A Scenario about Designing Appropriate Rooms for Decision Management". In: Eden, Colin; Radford, Jim. Tackling Strategic Problems, pp. 169–177. Sage Publications, London.
ISBN0-8039-8260-7.
Hicking, Allen; (2001). "Gambling with Frozen Fire?" In: Rosenhead, Jonathan; Mingers, John. Rational Analysis for a Problematic World Revisited. pp. 151–180. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, England.
ISBN978-0-471-49523-9.
Journals
Hickling, Allen (1978). "AIDA and the Levels of Choice in Structure Plans". Town Planning Review. 49 (4): 459–475.
doi:
10.3828/tpr.49.4.v4314t7172h3vu23.
French, Simon (November 1988). "Review: Planning under Pressure: The Strategic Choice Approach by John Friend, Allen Hickling". The Journal of the Operational Research Society. 39 (11): 1067–1068.
doi:
10.2307/2583210.
JSTOR2583210.
Hickling, Allen (1992). "You Build It: A Short History of UBILDA Toy Forts". Toy Soldier Parade. Vol. 2, no. 2. London: Yesteryear Publishing Ltd.
Hickling, Allen (1998). "Burleytoys' Buster Fort No.1". Old Toy Soldier. Vol. 22, no. 2. Oak Park, Ill.
Hickling, Allen (1998). "Chad Valley Toy Fort: Size No.1". Old Toy Soldier. Vol. 22, no. 3. Oak Park, Ill.
Hickling, Allen (1998). "Tri-ang Fort No.1". Old Toy Soldier. Vol. 22, no. 4. Oak Park, Ill.
Hickling, Allen (1999). "Snow Castles in the Playroom". Old Toy Soldier. Vol. 23, no. 4. Oak Park, Ill.
Hickling, Allen (1999). "Balmoral Castle: a Moko Toy". Old Toy Soldier. Vol. 29, no. 4.
Hickling, Allen (1999). "Tri-ang's Harlech Castle: The Story in Two Scenarios". Old Toy Soldier. Vol. 23, no. 2. Oak Park, Ill.
Hickling, Allen (2000). "Sod's Law: A Snow Castles Round-up". Old Toy Soldier. Vol. 24, no. 4. Oak Park, Ill.
Hickling, Allen (2000). "Tri-ang Forts". The Tri-ang Telegraph. Vol. No. R005 & R006. UK. {{
cite news}}: |volume= has extra text (
help)
Hickling, Allen (2000). "The Siege of Sebastopol: a Classic Three-in-One Toy Based on the Historical Event". Old Toy Soldier. Vol. 24, no. 2. Oak Park, Ill.
Hickling, Allen (2001). "From Dollhouse to Fortress: The Military Aspect of Moritz Gottschalk's Toy World, Part 1". Old Toy Soldier. Vol. 25, no. 1. Oak Park , Ill.
Hickling, Allen (2001). "From Dollhouse to Fortress: The Military Aspect of Moritz Gottschalk's Toy World, Part 2". Old Toy Soldier. Vol. 25, no. 2. Oak Park, Ill.
Hickling, Allen (2001). "From Dollhouse to Fortress: The Military Aspect of Moritz Gottschalk's Toy World, Part 3". Old Toy Soldier. Vol. 25, no. 4. Pittsburgh.
Hickling, Allen (2003). "From Dollhouse to Fortress: The Military Aspect of Moritz Gottschalk's Toy World, Part 4". Old Toy Soldier. Vol. 27, no. 2. Pittsburgh.
Hickling, Allen (2003). "A Toy Fort Anomaly". The Tri-ang Telegraph. No. RO16. Oak Park, Ill.: The Tri-ang Society.
Hickling, Allen (2003). "Lines Bros New Toy Forts 1939". The Tri-ang Telegraph. No. RO36.
Bryson, John M.; Ackermann, Fran; Eden, Colin (November 2004). "Contributions of Planning Under Pressure". Planning Theory. 3 (3): 201–210.
doi:
10.1177/1473095204048814.
S2CID109027081.
Hickling, Allen (2004). "Mr Kleemann's Legacy: The Original (History)". Plastic Warrior. No. 101. Woking, Surrey, England.
Hickling, Allen (2004). "Mr Kleemann's Legacy: The Original (Design)". Plastic Warrior. No. 102. Woking, Surrey, England.
Hickling, Allen (2004). "Mr Kleemann's Legacy: Copies and Derivatives". Plastic Warrior. No. 103. Woking, Surrey, England.
Hickling, Allen (2004). "Jack Binns and Bill Barker were BINBAK". Old Toy Soldier. Vol. 28, no. 4. Pittsburgh.
Hickling, Allen (2005). "BINBAK Follow Up". Old Toy Soldier. Vol. 29, no. 4. Pittsburgh.
Hickling, Allen (2007). "Elf into Joy: Toy Forts Made by the Hall Family". Old Toy Soldier. Vol. 31, no. 3. Pittsburgh.
Hickling, Allen (2009). "Great Minds Think Alike or Tri-ang - v - Elastolin". Old Toy Soldier. Vol. 33, no. 4. Pittsburgh.
Hickling, Allen (2010). "The Lines Bros' New Toy Forts: 1939". The Tri-ang Telegraph. Vol. No.TT36. {{
cite news}}: |volume= has extra text (
help)
Hickling, Allen (2012).
"Decision Analysis Society". Decision Analysis Today. 31, #2: 17–18. Archived from
the original on April 8, 2016. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
References
^"The Sunday Bulletin". University of Pennsylvania degree results. Philadelphia. May 10, 1970.[title incomplete]
^Daniels, Alan (September 26, 1975). "The Vancouver Sun".[title incomplete]
^Bishop, Jeff (2015). The Craft of Collaborative Planning: People Working Together to Shape Creative and Sustainable Places. Routledge. pp. 1, 8, 40, 151.
ISBN9781317556206.
^Faludi, A (2013). A Decision-centred View of Environmental Planning. Elsevier.
ISBN9781483286488.
^de Jongh, Paul E. (1996). The Netherlands Approach to Environmental Policy Integration (Report). Washington, D.C.: Center for Strategic & International Studies. p. 15.
^Hickling, Allen (1991). Municipal waste management in the EEC : report of an orientation study about the positions of member States and industry. European Commission.
^Tsagdis, D. (August 1998). "Book review: Planning Under Pressure: The Strategic Choice Approach, 2nd edition. By John Friend and Allen Hickling. Published by Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, 1997, 372 pp., £16·99". Systems Research and Behavioral Science. 15 (4): 349–354.
doi:
10.1002/(SICI)1099-1743(199807/08)15:4<349::AID-SRES237>3.0.CO;2-Q.
ISBN0-7506-2955-X.