The New Book “Thinkingaire” Introduction: Chapter 7 Paradoxical Minds

Paradoxical is an adjective that describes something with two meaning s that don’t make sense together. Its greek roots translate to “contrary opinion,” and when two different opinions collide in one statement or action, that’s paradoxical. (vocabulary.com) The global business dynamic is becoming more complex, uncertain, ambiguous, and paradoxical in many perspectives. Studies show that effective leaders display a marked level of ease and comfort when dealing with a paradox. Leading complex organizations is a challenge that transcends rational management and that requires paradoxical capabilities, behavioral complexity, and competencies that distinguish great leader from others.
The digital professional with paradoxical Intelligence (PI) is more balanced with emotional excellence: Emotional Brilliance comes because of balance, not extremes of any kind. Yin and Yang are two sides to the same coin. We need to accept and appreciate both. At a silo, perhaps you only see or understand one side, believe it is right, and then assume the other side must be wrong. But if you stand at the right angle to see the both sides, you know even they are different, but both hold part of truth in it. Nowadays, we are shifting into a hyper-connected, and hyper-competitive digital paradigm. Unprecedentedly, the physical boundary can no longer limit our thoughts, our communication and life experience. And more often than not, you have to see the full spectrum of colors and embrace seemly paradoxical point of views in order to understand things holistically.
The digital professionals with paradoxical intelligence are more inquisitive and innovative: INterdisciplinarity and paradox are the rare and precious dots to spark the next level of innovation, because often creative outcomes may come from recombining ideas in different ways to create the fresh ideas or the new ways to solve old problems. From innovation management perspective, the high “PI” mindset is better at balancing between orders (standardization) and chaos (innovation). The paradox of leadership is about the balancing of asking and answering, leading at the front and leading from the behind, or know when it’s the time to lead, and when it’s time to follow.
The doubtful mind seems paradoxical, the wise says, “if you doubt at first, doubt again”: This means that any doubtful situation or thought should not be left unattended, especially when the impact of that situation is possibly large. You cannot leave anything that may put your activities or plans in jeopardy unaddressed. If doubt is a brief precursor that stimulates questioning and learning, then it is a healthy, positive state of mind. When doubt becomes internalized as self-doubt and begins to erode one’s self-confidence, then it is a negative state of mind. Doubt that leads us to strive for knowledge and action for betterment is the only way to grow. The aspects we have to look for are: Doubts about a possible impediment, devising way to overcome the impediment, being prepared for some en-route “surprises,” either pleasant or otherwise, courage, and the confidence to face unpleasant surprises. Like many other paradoxical characters we are born with, it has to be used in moderation and subjected to examination.
Paradoxical Intelligence is a multidimensional intelligence, without broad knowledge, profound insight, and ultimate wisdom, you cannot understand both sides of coin cohesively. Digital leaders with high PI can orchestrate and harmonize via their unique vision and distinctive abilities to lead differently. And digital professionals with high PI demonstrate learning agility and inclusiveness to solve problems in a more create way.Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu