Organizational Paradox

A paradox is a statement or situation that is seemingly contradictory because it is composed of two opposing chacteristics. In philosophy, paradoxical reasoning involves deriving an absurd conclusion from apparently unquestionable premises through valid inferential procedures. Paradoxes such as the liar's paradox—“The following statement is true: This statement is a lie”—pose a problem that seems impossible to resolve. To address the paradox, one must reject one of its premises, point out problems of inference, or live with the result.

Organizational paradoxes are similar to logical ones in that they present a message, symbol, or situation that incorporates contradictory elements that implicate each other. Thus, the contradictions reflect on each other such that the respondent feels bankrupt of choice (“damned if you do and damned if you [Page 1147]don't”). One example is the paradox of individuality within organizations. Organizations ask their members to think independently and make spontaneous contributions that draw on their unique talents, yet supervisors often require members to conform to organizational demands, policies, and procedures and to make the organization's interests their own. These two contradictory pressures create dilemmas for members. On one hand, they may be ordered to be creative (thus undermining the spontaneity necessary for creativity). But if they are too creative, they may be seen as nonconformists who are undermining organizational requirements. To the extent that individuals subordinate themselves to the will of the organization, they may also forfeit their individuality, thus being unable to use their unique talents.

Unlike logical paradoxes, organizational paradoxes are not just mental exercise; rather they have real consequences for those caught within them. In addition, because organizational paradoxes occur in time and space, members have more options to deal with them than they do with logical paradoxes.

Paradox should be distinguished from two related terms, dialectic and duality. Dialectic refers to the unity of opposites such that organization members struggle to embrace both members of bipolar pairs. This unity occurs because the opposites are interdependent parts of a social system or may have meaning only through comparison with the opposite pole. Dialectics may be one mode in which paradox operates, but paradoxes can develop in other ways also. Dualities refer to the push and pull of opposite forces. They are not necessarily paradoxes, because the oppositional pair may not be contradictory or necessarily reflect on each other. For example, short-term and long-term goals may be in tension with each other, but they are not necessarily contradictory unless they are pitted against each other and set up so that one of them prohibits achieving the other.