New Zealand, like many countries, faces the challenge of building and sustaining an educated population. Particular challenges are posed by the need to educate an increasing proportion of the population to higher levels in order to support the growth of a modern skills and knowledge economy, as opposed to an economy built on low-cost labour and commodities. New Zealand higher education faces a challenging combination of political and economic drivers that interact to create a "wicked problem" obstructing and complicating innovation in the models used to educate adults. This paper explores the wicked character of New Zealand higher education and considers what strategies potentially offer ways of addressing and minimising the extent of the wickedness, and potentially enable progress in the quality, efficiency and impact of education in New Zealand society.