#11: Organizational Oxymorons

Introduction to Concept:

Harvard professor Charles Handy talks about living in an age of paradox. With life proceeding at an ever-faster, ever-more-complex pace, change is thrust upon us at an almost dizzying speed. Sometimes, it seems as if we have just acclimated ourselves to a particular way of thinking or acting when we are asked to change our thinking to accommodate new information.

A kind of cognitive dissonance is created as we struggle to cling to what makes sense. We find ourselves propelled to accept the non-sense and apparent nonsense of a whole new set of behaviors or thoughts. In a way, we are asked to hold two opposing views in our minds at the same time and walk along a mental tightrope stretched taut between those two points.

Procedure:

1. Make a transition to the more challenging half of this activity by using Worksheet #11-1. Distribute it to participants and ask them to review and discuss the items. Call upon a few people at random to explain the meaning of several of the terms.

2. Ask teams to add oxymorons of their own.

3. Call on several teams to share what they have thought of and encourage others to add these other oxymorons to their own lists.

4. Now distribute Worksheet #11-2. Ask participants to work together to:

a. Discuss the confusion/stress/difficulty caused by these antithetical pushes.

b. Offer suggestions for coping with the conflict and finding syntheses that can serve as compromises.

c. Explain the organizational oxymorons, either in terms of how they have come about or with examples of individuals who can satisfy the opposing demands imposed by the organizational oxymorons.

5. Ask each team to send a representative to the front of the room to serve on a panel that will discuss the confusion, suggestions, and explanations.

Extending the Activity:

1. Invite a member of senior management to address the class and give his or her opinion regarding the oxymorons presented in Worksheet #11-2.

2. Ask participants to share examples of empowerment initiatives in which they are engaged. Then ask who has the final word on decisions regarding those initiatives. Lead a discussion of whether or not existing practices contradict the concept of empowerment.

Workplace Connections:

1. Propose the creation of a video that explores the apparent contradictions employees face. If it turns out well, suggest that participants work to have it become part of employee orientation.

2. Suggest that participants speak with their supervisors about the possibility of beginning each staff meeting with a few minutes devoted to the exploration of paradoxes that may be causing distress among employees. (For those participants who are supervisors, determine how willing they would be to institute this oxymoronic beginning at staff meetings.)

Questions for Further Consideration:

1. What organizational oxymorons have you encountered in your work life?

2. What do you do to resolve the contradictions you face from time to time?

3. Supervisors still supervise. What changes have you personally witnessed or learned about?

4. What behaviors are rewarded in your organization?

5. Does the reward process coincide with or conflict with what management says we should be doing?

6. Does your organization encourage risk-taking, or playing it safe?

7. What is the corporate view concerning issues that have the paradox-potential embedded within them? For example:

• Productivity versus work/life balance

• Discipline versus innovation

• Independent thinking versus fierce loyalty

• The need for quality versus the need for a downsized workforce

The Greek prefix “oxy” means “wise” and “moron,” of course, means “fool.” Is it possible for a person to be a “wise fool”? Quite! Initially, the words seem to contradict themselves, but we find our language strewn with such puzzling terms. During the Watergate scandal, for example, a Congressman serving on the investigative committee actually told the press the committee had reached an “inconclusive conclusion.”

Here is a list of familiar oxymoronic terms. How many can you add to the list?

Directions: The following entries may appear confusing at first, for the terms in each entry seem to contradict each other. As a team, your job (for as many entries as you can) is to:

a. Discuss the confusion/stress/difficulty caused by these antithetical pushes.

b. Offer suggestions for coping with the conflict and finding syntheses that can serve as compromises.

c. Explicate the organizational oxymorons, either in terms of how they have come about or with examples of individuals who can satisfy the opposing demands imposed by the organizational oxymorons.

Afterwards, select a spokesperson to serve on a panel with representatives from the other teams. Essentially, the spokespersons will share the insights created by your team.

1. The people who never experience success in their careers are the ones who always do what they are told and the ones who never do what they are told.

2. Certain principles sustain organizations in times of radical change. And certain principles, precisely because they have been sustained too long, have created the very difficulty that makes change imperative.

3. Seek clarity. Accept chaos.

4. Americans are admired for their rugged individualism. And yet, in some companies, if you are not a team player, you will not be hired.

5. Despite a plethora of time-saving devices, we seem to have less time than ever before.

6. We are advised to “look out for #1” and yet we respect those who put the welfare of others above (or at least equal to) their own.

7. Managers should be “hands-on” people exhibiting a “hands-off” policy.

8. Throughout our lives, we are encouraged to learn big words. And yet, at work, we are encouraged to follow the advice of Winston Churchill: “Big [wo]men use little words.”

9. Do it right the first time but learn from your mistakes.