Joe Cheal - Solving Impossible Problems: Working Through Tensions and Paradox in Business

Welcome to Solving Impossible Problems and thank you for joining me on a journey into the dark, absurd and yet sometimes amusing world of organisational tensions and paradox.

Within this book you will discover my fascination with the bizarre and paradoxical. It seems to me that perfectly reasonable people can get together and with all good intention create absolute chaos. Other people can get together and create something extraordinary and innovative.

I am truly curious about impossible problems and although not always pleasant to experience first hand it is nice to know that there are ways of resolving these problems and making change happen.

When I was about sixteen I read a book called Gdel Escher Bach: The Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstater. It was a challenging book that rewarded me with talk of strange loops and paradox. Motivated (in part by this love of the inexplicable), I went on to do a degree in Philosophy and Psychology. Although much of those three years escapes me now, I particularly enjoyed the metaphysics section

Bertrand Russell entertained me with story of a clean shaven man who was the only barber in the town he lived in. He shaved all the men in the town who didnt shave themselves. Nothing extraordinary here or is there? Who shaved the barber? No-one else could shave him as he shaved all the men who didnt shave themselves. But he couldnt shave himself because if he did, he couldnt have shaved himself. Oh dear!

And the language and logic sections

A man tells us: Dont listen to me, I always lie. If this is a lie, it must be true, but if it is true, it must be a lie ad infinitum.

The strange and ambiguous is all around us. How about the road sign that says: Sign not in use?

The path I have walked career-wise has been in learning and organisational development. Since 1993 I have heard about and seen hundreds and thousands of impossible problems that wouldnt go away. People have found themselves in situations where there seemed to be no answer. All possible solutions were met with the response: Yes, but or the problem with that is or the difficulty there is or the trouble with that is There were dilemmas that went back and forth, situations that went round in circles and issues that came back again and again.

My fascination with paradox as a student had been in what it does to the brain (i.e. creates a sense of confusion) and here I was seeing and hearing about the very same phenomenon (i.e. confusion) in everyday working life. So I began to wonder if these workplace situations were real world paradoxes.

People talk about trying to get their head around a problem but this is challenging with the slippery twisty nature of paradox. As soon as you get your head around a problem driven by paradox, it seems to slide off to one side and remain incomprehensible.

Any problem that seems to have no solution is a challenge to me, both intellectually and emotionally. I want to find a rational answer and I want people to get on with each other! I want to help make peoples lives easier. Although this is perhaps not always possible, it is very satisfying when it all comes together. I am delighted when, with a little help, someone goes away with a workable solution that they and their colleagues can feel pleased about.

A few years ago I embarked on the adventure of an MSc in Organisational Development and Neuro-Linguistic Technologies and I had the opportunity to research the nature of paradox in organisations. Here was a culmination and synthesis of my love of the absurd, of philosophy and psychology and of the consultancy I had done over the previous fifteen years.

The MSc research led me on a massive reading spree, from books to journal articles anything that was paradox and business related. From that literature, I have discovered a range of models, tools and techniques that you will find in this book and I have referenced them wherever I can. Having then run a series of Paradox and Tension Management workshops, I then developed a set of new models and tools which you will also find here.

Wherever your path takes you, enjoy the journey. I hope one day that our paths will cross.