TY - JOUR
T1 - The lived experience of paradox
T2 - how individuals navigate tensions during the pandemic crisis
AU - Pradies, Camille
AU - Aust, Ina
AU - Bednarek, Rebecca
AU - Brandl, Julia
AU - Carmine, Simone
AU - Cheal, Joe
AU - Cunha, Miguel Pina e
AU - Gaim, Medhanie
AU - Keegan, Anne
AU - Lê, Jane K.
AU - Miron-Spektor, Ella
AU - Nielsen, Rikke Kristine
AU - Pouthier, Vanessa
AU - Sharma, Garima
AU - Sparr, Jennifer L.
AU - Vince, Russ
AU - Keller, Joshua
PY - 2021/4
Y1 - 2021/4
N2 - In this article, we present seven short essays that focus on various aspects of the lived experience during the pandemic crisis through a paradox theoretical lens, providing new insights on the pandemic while also using the pandemic experience to push the boundaries of paradox theory. Bednarek and Lê discuss how the boundary between work and life has become blurred yet our sense of them opposed has peaked. To them, the pandemic invites us to expand our understanding of the concept of balance central to paradox theory. The next three essays focus on how managers shape individuals’ experience with tensions during the pandemic. Sparr discusses how leaders have been tasked to provide a clear vision to their employees while themselves immersed in fog, thereby creating tensions that are difficult for both leaders and employees to manage. Nielsen, Cheal and Pradies discuss how leaders can communicate to followers during the pandemic in a way that resonates cognitively and emotionally with them. Keegan and colleagues discuss how latent tensions between profits and health have surfaced during the pandemic, requiring human resources managers to create innovative solutions under constraint. Miron-Spektor unpacks how a paradox approach enables us to understand the ways in which employees can respond to tensions stemming from the pandemic. In particular, she stresses how a paradox mindset is even more critical during crises than during normal times. Finally, the essays by Gaim & Cunha and by Pouthier & Vince provide us with warnings. Gaim and Cunha discuss how because of power dynamics between management and labour, we must be careful about the dark side of a paradox approach. Pouthier & Vince remind us that the tensions employees experience during the pandemic is quintessentially an emotional experience and should be examined as such.
AB - In this article, we present seven short essays that focus on various aspects of the lived experience during the pandemic crisis through a paradox theoretical lens, providing new insights on the pandemic while also using the pandemic experience to push the boundaries of paradox theory. Bednarek and Lê discuss how the boundary between work and life has become blurred yet our sense of them opposed has peaked. To them, the pandemic invites us to expand our understanding of the concept of balance central to paradox theory. The next three essays focus on how managers shape individuals’ experience with tensions during the pandemic. Sparr discusses how leaders have been tasked to provide a clear vision to their employees while themselves immersed in fog, thereby creating tensions that are difficult for both leaders and employees to manage. Nielsen, Cheal and Pradies discuss how leaders can communicate to followers during the pandemic in a way that resonates cognitively and emotionally with them. Keegan and colleagues discuss how latent tensions between profits and health have surfaced during the pandemic, requiring human resources managers to create innovative solutions under constraint. Miron-Spektor unpacks how a paradox approach enables us to understand the ways in which employees can respond to tensions stemming from the pandemic. In particular, she stresses how a paradox mindset is even more critical during crises than during normal times. Finally, the essays by Gaim & Cunha and by Pouthier & Vince provide us with warnings. Gaim and Cunha discuss how because of power dynamics between management and labour, we must be careful about the dark side of a paradox approach. Pouthier & Vince remind us that the tensions employees experience during the pandemic is quintessentially an emotional experience and should be examined as such.
KW - organizational behavior
KW - paradox
KW - tensions
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85100061017&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1056492620986874
DO - 10.1177/1056492620986874
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85100061017
SN - 1056-4926
VL - 30
SP - 154
EP - 167
JO - Journal of Management Inquiry
JF - Journal of Management Inquiry
IS - 2
ER -