Abstract
Many scholars accept persistence as a core characteristic of paradox, but why paradoxes persist is a question that has been left underexplored. The chapter first situates persistence in the conceptual evolution of paradox; second, it explores why persistence is inherent to paradox as a consequence of push-pulls between synergies and tradeoffs; and third, borrowing from Benson’s (1977) dialectical frame, it discusses how persistence operates. Overall, the chapter contributes to explaining why persistence, not resolution, is integral to a process view of paradox. To appreciate paradox is to assume that tradeoffs can become synergies and that synergies can untap tradeoffs, only before they rotate their order, in a circular movement with no end in sight. The appreciation of paradox entails an acquired taste for infinity.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Perspectives on process organization studies |
| Subtitle of host publication | Dualities, dialectics, and paradoxes in organizational life |
| Editors | Moshe Farjoun, Wendy Smith, Ann Langley, Haridimos Tsoukas |
| Place of Publication | Oxford |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
| Chapter | 2 |
| Pages | 14-34 |
| Volume | 8 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9780191866289 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780198827436 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2018 |
Keywords
- paradox
- process
- persistence
- yin-yang
- push-pull