In search of a creative space: A conceptual framework of synthesizing paradoxical tensions

Medhanie Gaim, Nils Wåhlin
2016 Scandinavian Journal of Management  
A B S T R A C T We examine paradoxes in organizations and the organizations' ability to deal with the resulting paradoxical tensions. Paradoxes constitute contradictory yet interrelated organizational demands that exist simultaneously, with the resulting tensions persisting over time. Irrespective of the prevailing evidence that engaging paradoxes leads to peak performance in the short-term, which reinforces longterm success, the question of how this might be done remains perplexing. Thus,
more » ... on pragmatic philosophy, this paper aims to increase our understanding of what constitutes a paradox and suggests a conceptual framework from which organizations and their members can frame and cope with tensions that result from paradoxes. Specifically, we conceptually map a way to achieve a synthesis of paradoxical tensions that is informed by design thinking. This synthesis is said to occur when competing demands are simultaneously fulfilled to their full potential. In this paper, design thinkingas a management conceptis used to refer to the interplay between perspective, structure, process, and mindset. It provides an alternative framing of how organizations approach paradoxes and deal with the resulting tensions.
doi:10.1016/j.scaman.2015.12.002 fatcat:3haaywe2prg5zfvp74b2ccpkcm