True and False

Thinking in terms of contradictions and paradoxes are hallmarks of creative thinking. Below is an illustration of a penguin. It’s also an illustration of a rabbit. How can one image be of two animals? It is contradictory. The penguin faces right and the rabbit faces left. You can, with a little practice, paradoxically see both images separately and also simultaneously.

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A Visual Contradiction

Imagining two opposites or contradictory ideas, concepts, or images existing simultaneously is beyond logic. It is a type of conceptualizing in which the thinking processes transcend ordinary logical thinking. If you hold two opposites together, your mind moves to a new level. The suspension of thought allows an intelligence beyond thought to act and create a new form. The swirling of opposites creates the conditions for a new point of view to bubble free from your mind.

This kind of paradoxical thinking is sometimes called Janusian thinking, named after Janus, the two-faced Roman god. It involves creating a paradox or contradiction of two opposing ideas as being currently true. Here are some business examples:

  • Lead by following
  • Win by losing
  • Take risk but be conservative
  • Seek diversity, but build a shared vision
  • Encourage creativity but be practical
  • Build a cohesive team but welcome conflict
  • Set realistic yet challenging goals
  • Reward team effort but create a high performance climate for individuals

BLUE PRINT

  1. PROBLEM. A CEO noted that when his high-tech company was small, people would often meet spontaneously and informally. Out of these meetings came their best ideas. With the company’s rapid growth, these informal meetings (and the number of good ideas) declined. He tried the usual ways to stimulate creativity (meetings, dinners, parties, roundtables, etc.), but they did not generate novel ideas. He wanted to re-create the spontaneous creative environment.
  2. PARADOX. Convert the problem into a paradox. One of the things that distinguish creative people from average people is their tolerance of opposites. Physicist Niels Bohr, for example, was delighted when he discovered the paradox that light is both a particle and a wave. This contradiction led to the Principle of Complementarity, which won him the Nobel Prize. The question to ask is: What is the opposite or contradiction of the problem? And then imagine both existing at the same time. Example: The paradox of the company’s situation was that unless the gatherings were unorganized they wouldn’t produce novel ideas.
  3. ESSENCE. What is the essence of the problem? Summarize the essence into a book title that captures the essence and contradiction of the problem. This makes it easier to work with and comprehend. Some examples are: Sales target — Focused Desire, Different level employees — Balanced Confusion, Seasonal sales cycles — Connected Pauses, Birth control — Dependable Intermittency, Nature — Rational Impetuousness. Example: In our example, the CEO summarized his paradox into the book title “Unorganized Gatherings.”
  4. ANALOGUE. Find an analogy that reflects the essence of the paradox. Think of as many analogies as you can and select the most suitable. Example: Our CEO found a suitable analogy in nature. He thought of herring gulls who are very unorganized scavengers but effective survivors.
  5. UNIQUE FEATURE. What is the unique feature or activity of the analogue? Creative ideas often involve taking unique features from one subject and applying them to another. Example: In our example, the CEO determined that the unique feature of his analogy is “scavenging.” The gulls gather for an easy meal when fishermen throw unwanted fish and fish parts back into the sea.
  6. EQUIVALENT. Use an equivalent of the “unique” feature to trigger new ideas. Example: The equivalent of this unique feature might be to have people come together for convenient meals at attractive prices.
  7. BUILD INTO A NEW IDEA. The company will serve inexpensive gourmet food in the company cafeteria. By subsidizing the cost of the gourmet food, the CEO encourages employees to gather there (much like the herring gulls drawn to the fishermen’s free food) to meet informally, mingle and exchange ideas.

Psychologically reversing the way we perceive our image helps us understand a mirror. In the same way, thinking paradoxically may lead to a different insight or a breakthrough idea.