Strategic agility: Moving beyond 'either/or' with a Multilevel Paradox Mindset

  • Strategic agility: Moving beyond 'either/or' with a Multilevel Paradox Mindset

In today’s complex and volatile business environment, organisations constantly encounter paradoxical tensions – competing demands that are simultaneously contradictory and interdependent.

These inherent tensions, such as balancing stability with change, or focusing on short-term survival while pursuing long-term adaptability, are experienced across every level of your business: individual employees, operational teams, and the organisation as a whole.

Navigating these conflicts requires more than standard problem-solving; it demands a fundamental shift in perspective. It requires embracing a Paradox Mindset (PM).

What is a Paradox Mindset, and why should leaders care?

A paradox mindset is defined as “the extent to which one is accepting of and energised by tensions”. Rather than perceiving contradictions as threats or problems to be resolved, individuals (and organisations) with a PM view them as crucial opportunities for learning, innovation, and growth.
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For business leaders, adopting a PM means moving from an “either/or” approach to a more integrative “both/and” perspective. As leaders face increasingly complex and conflicting challenges, engaging with paradox is essential for thriving in dynamic and ambiguous environments.
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Our research proposes an extended concept: the Multilevel Paradox Mindset (MLPM) framework. This framework confirms that PM is not limited to individual cognition but is a multilevel phenomenon that is also evident at the team and organisation levels. At the organisational level, this mindset is evidenced through strategic decisions, norms, policies, practices, and consistent leadership messages that influence behavior.

The three levels of Paradox Mindset enactment

A key insight of the MLPM framework is that the paradox mindset is not a passive state; it is an intentional, deliberate process linking cognition and behavior, referred to as enactment. Leaders must actively implement practices that drive the adoption of this mindset throughout the entire organisation.
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The MLPM framework identifies specific intentional practices at each level that leaders must foster:
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Organisational Level

Paradox Mindset Practices

Description and Examples

Organisation level
1. Acknowledging the paradox: Intent to identify and articulate the paradox.
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2. Facilitating Paradox Mindset: Deliberately establishing organisational structures, systems, and culture to encourage a PM.
 This involves seeking multiple perspectives, communicating balanced strategies, and developing performance metrics (KPIs) that reflect competing demands (e.g., both cost reduction and member experience).

Team level
3. Joint sense-making: Collectively interpreting and developing a shared understanding of the paradox.
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4. Working through paradox together: Leveraging team perspectives and collective abilities to navigate tensions.
 Teams actively share convergent and divergent ideas, reinforcing consistent messages, and engaging in collective problem-solving to achieve both elements of the paradox simultaneously (e.g., focusing on retention/service and acquisition/sales).

Individual level

 5. Meaning-making: Individual intent to develop awareness and understanding of the paradox.

6. Engaging with paradox: Individual intent to adopt “both/and” behaviors.
Individuals intentionally seek deeper understanding of the paradox, consider multiple timeframes and perspectives, embrace ambiguity, and use deliberate language to frame nonbinary responses, transforming conflicts into opportunities for growth.

Disseminating and scaling

For PM to be impactful, it must be shared. A crucial element for executives is understanding the interactions by which PM flows between the organisational layers.

1. Disseminating (top-down flow): Disseminating involves organisational and team efforts aimed at cascading paradox mindset to lower levels. This is typically initiated by senior leadership:

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Executive modeling

CEO communications should reflect a paradox mindset, modeling the “both/and” narrative and enabling alignment between organisational priorities and frontline action.

Systemic reinforcement

Embedding PM into organisational strategy, structures, and processes so it becomes an integral norm. For example, the introduction of balanced scorecards serves as a tool to compel people to think about multiple things simultaneously, translating high-level priorities into individual objectives.
.2. Scaling (bottom-up flow): Scaling occurs when individual-level paradox mindset spreads to the team level, which, in turn, impacts organisation-level PM activities. This facilitates the expansion of activities across the organisation.
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Bubble up of insights

Leaders must facilitate leadership practices that encourage the “bubble up of information” and insights from individuals and teams, ensuring diverse perspectives are integrated into strategic conversations.

Routine adoption

Individual insights and successful approaches can be shared and adopted across teams and functions, effectively translating personal interpretation of paradox into collective, embedded organisational practices.
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Practical implications for business leaders

Simplistic efforts to navigate organisational paradox are unlikely to be successful. The MLPM framework provides a structured approach, offering three key takeaways for senior leaders and practitioners:
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1. Acknowledge interconnectedness: Leaders must acknowledge the interconnectedness of factors at all organisational levels rather than focusing on isolated elements. The MLPM framework provides the structure for this comprehensive approach.
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2. Model and promote intentionality: Leaders must take a proactive role in fostering an environment where paradoxes are viewed as catalysts for creative solutions. This is achieved by modeling curiosity, adaptability, and actively promoting the sharing of diverse perspectives from all parts of the organisation.
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3. Invest in paradox-ready capabilities: HR professionals should use this framework to guide recruitment, seeking candidates with diverse perspectives and advanced cognitive skills. Furthermore, they must develop training programs focused on cultivating PM at all levels, enhancing the workforce’s ability to thrive under paradoxical conditions.
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By intentionally recognising and engaging with competing demands through deliberate practices, executives can ensure that paradoxes are harnessed as catalysts for innovation and sustained organisational progress.

Find out more

To explore the full depth of our findings and discover how your organisation can cultivate a Multilevel Paradox Mindset, we invite you to read the full article. You can also find more information on our Paradox Research Page.

Read the full article

Halton, A. M., & Wiewiora, A. (2025). Paradox Mindset: A Multilevel Framework. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/00218863251376176

If you’re ready to start embedding paradox-ready practices into your leadership and culture, connect with our team today. We’re here to help you turn complexity into opportunity. Email Associate Professor Anna Wiewiora at a.wiewiora@qut.edu.au or future.enterprise@qut.edu.au