Capturing complex realities: A systems perspective on paradox

Abstract

Paradox research contributes important insight into organizational tensions and their management. Paradox studies generally address a single tension at one level of analysis. Increasingly organizations confront system issues that create numerous tensions across multiple levels of analysis, such as the challenges linked to sustainability. Addressing such wicked problems requires a more comprehensive understanding of the underlying tensions to propose suitable managerial approaches. However, the paradox literature tends to blur experienced tensions (the epistemological realm) and real tensions (the ontological realm), impeding a shift to more complex approaches. We propose a systems perspective on paradox that helps to distinguish experienced tensions from real tensions, which are grounded in systems. Uncovering real tensions makes them empirically interpretable and allows capturing more of paradoxes’ real-life complexity. Our insights lead to two new approaches to paradox that help organizations manage systems tensions.