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Paradoxical Balancing Acts in Organization
Improvement
By Jim Clemmer
"Fine art is that in which the hand, the head, and the heart go together."
— John Ruskin, 19th century English critic, artist and social reformer
Too often, we see the world in narrow binary, either/or terms.
Odd or even, closed or open, introverted or extroverted, individual or
group, profitable or unprofitable, rational or irrational, right or wrong,
real or imagined, hard or soft, emotional or dispassionate, and vertical
or horizontal are common examples of how we try to neatly pair contradictory
opposites.
But top performers look beyond either/or to and/also. Instead of seeing
just polarization, they see beyond the contradictions that limit most
people. They are able to manage the third position that emerges from balancing
the two opposites. As professor, consultant, and author, Charles Handy,
points out in his book, The Age of Paradox, "paradox does not have
to be resolved, only managed."
Five thousand years ago in ancient China, Fu Hsi developed an "and/also
philosophy" that is still with us today. His concept of yin and yang
taught that much of life consists of two opposite and sometimes opposing
forces. As with male and female, the very existence of each may depend
on its opposite. In other cases, one may transform or kill the other such
as fire and water, darkness and light, or cold and hot.
Samuel Johnson, the 18th century, poet, essayist, and journalist captured
this interdependence of contrasting forces when he wrote, "the lustre
of diamonds is invigorated by the interposition of darker bodies; the
lights of a picture are created by the shades; the highest pleasure which
nature has indulged to sensitive perception is that of rest after fatigue."
| Improvement Efforts Must... |
And Also... |
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Produce quick, short term results |
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Change long term personal habits and organization culture |
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Expect the best |
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Be prepared for the worst |
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Built consistency, discipline, and a systematic approach |
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Constantly change, experiment, and learn by "mucking around"
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Respond to and serve existing customers |
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Develop new customers and markets by uncovering unmet needs |
| • |
Amplify the potential pain |
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Focus on the gain |
| • |
Continuously improve in small increments wherever possible |
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Make breakthrough changes |
The key lessons of the yin and yang philosophy or of managing paradox
is finding a balance that's right for the conditions and circumstances.
That means we need to learn how to deal with the ambiguity and uncertainty
of and/also. While many of those balances have always been dynamic and
changing, today's hyper speed of change makes them all the more so. The
words of Voltaire, the French philosopher and dramatist, ring even truer
today then they did in the 16th century, "Doubt is not a pleasant
condition, but certainty is an absurd one."
| Jim Clemmer is a bestselling author and internationally
acclaimed keynote speaker, workshop/retreat leader, and management
team developer on leadership, change, customer focus, culture, teams,
and personal growth. During the last 25 years he has delivered over
two thousand customized keynote presentations, workshops, and retreats.
Jim's five international bestselling books include The VIP Strategy,
Firing
on All Cylinders, Pathways
to Performance, Growing
the Distance, and The
Leader's Digest. His web site is www.clemmer.net.
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