268. Finding Power in Paradoxes feat. Wendy K. Smith

In a world of either/or tradeoffs, it sometimes pays to explore the possibility of and/or. By changing our perspective and embracing paradox, we can see possibilities that were obscured by our tendency to see only tradeoffs.

Wendy K. Smith is the Dana J. Johnson Professor of Business at the University of Delaware and co-founder of the Women's Leadership Initiative. She is also an author, and with Marianne Lewis their latest book is Both/And Thinking: Embracing Creative Tensions to Solve Your Toughest Problems, about how to navigate the inevitable paradoxes and demands of life and the world.

Wendy and Greg discuss Wendy’s book and what she has learned about paradoxes and the changes made possible when you replace ‘Either/Or thinking with ‘Both/And’ thinking. They discuss this approach and how you can learn from fields as diverse as philosophy, therapy, and improv, as well as Wendy’s three conditions of Change, Plurality, and Scarcity.

*unSILOed Podcast is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

The power of listening

24:24: Listening is a form of respect. It doesn't mean you have to agree. It means you have to engage, or it doesn't mean that you are agreeing. It means that you are respecting somebody, that they have a different point of view than you, and you're engaging and accepting that there is a different point of view out there. And sometimes, listening to hard things that we absolutely don't agree with with curiosity can be a really powerful tool to be able to get to a better point.

Adopting a paradox mindset is two things

29:40: Adopting a paradox mindset is two things: It's both experiencing the tensions that are out there and applying a both/and approach to those tensions.

Navigating the both/and space

21:02: In order to effectively navigate in this both/and space, we have to be able to pull apart the opposing tensions and do a deep dive into understanding each one in service of a more profound, thoughtful, creative, and understood holistic synergy.

How do we understand the relationship between both/and inherent approach and a socially constructed approach?

06:49: There is an inherent nature to our world that is paradoxical, and our understanding of the world, our social construction, our framing, our mindsets, and surfaces, makes that salient to us, which gives us the power or the tools, the possibility to navigate our competing demands in another way.

Show Links:

Recommended Resources:

• Faculty Profile for Marya Besharov
• Kelly Leonard with The Second City
• The Nadler-Tushman Congruence Model Explained
• The Ontology of Organizational Paradox: A Quantum Approach by Tobias Hahn and Eric Knight
• Charles A. O’Reilly
• Ellen Langer
• The Second City
• Exploration and Exploitation in Organizational Learning by James G. March

Guest Profile:

• Faculty Profile at University of Delaware
• Professional Profile on Academy of Management
• Wendy K. Smith on LinkedIn
• Wendy K. Smith on Twitter
• The power of paradox: Dr. Wendy K. Smith at TEDxUD

Her Work:

• Wendy K. Smith on Google Scholar
• Both/And Thinking: Embracing Creative Tensions to Solve Your Toughest Problems

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