Choice making in an era of paradoxes
17 October 2023
The foundations on which we make strategic choices have changed. To navigate a world of competing demands, we need to find the courage to surface tensions and shape conversations early, become great hybrid thinkers and re-imagine the role of strategy. We must learn to make great choices in an era of paradoxes.
We are at a frontier. We are in a crisis load; climate, ethical and political crises emerge, and they mutate. As a result, we encounter multidimensional challenges that change all the time. Problems that we can no longer turn away from.
Being a leader in the era of paradoxes
Societies are looking to us as business leaders to face up to these worthwhile problems. Yet, these challenges are of a different nature than “classic” business problems. They are paradoxical, persistent and interconnected – and they call for a new way of solving problems.
As leaders, we need to find comfort in the discomfort of uncertainty and not knowing all the answers. We need to turn frustration into ambition. And turn tension into creativity.
These problems belong to us, as do the choices that will help us overcome them. Choices are made by everyone. Every day. So it is our responsibility not to reduce ourselves to “mine or yours”, “this or that” and “either/or”. We must expand our minds to acknowledge the both/and.
How is choice making different in an era of tension and crisis?
Keynote by Stig Albertsen, Implement Consulting Group
As business leaders, we can no longer rely on past experiences to navigate crisis and tension. We need to upgrade our choice making to fit an increasingly more paradoxical world.
But what invitations does this new state of business hold?
The foundations on which we make strategic choices have changed
Crises emerge. Mutate. Problems look different. Every day.
We need to find comfort in discomfort. Turn frustration into ambition. And tension into creativity.
We must learn to make great choices in an era of paradoxes.
Start having the courageous conversation
If there is one thing we wish every leader would go out and do, it would be to identify and start having the courageous conversation.
Ask yourself: What conversation are you not having? What invitation are you not making?
Curious to explore further?
These six pathways to collapsing paradoxes offer inspiration and guidance on how you can make the most of the paradoxes and tensions you are dealing with.
How can you leverage them to energise rather than get paralysed by them?
Imagine if every organisation ...
... assessed mindset and capability gaps
... reimagined the strategy function
... trained everyone to become integrative thinkers
That would be a powerful way of fostering capable choice makers at scale.
Discover the power of and
How do we apply a both/and mindset and make better leadership decisions in a world of competing demands?
