Navigating Today’s Critical Social/Economic Paradox

Acknowledging paradox is a fundamental principle of?living well,?as stated by generations of thought leaders:

• “The only constant in life is change.” —Greek philosopher?Heraclitus?
• “If you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.” —Mother Teresa
• “The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.”?—Carl Rogers
• “The biggest risk is not taking any risk.” —Mark Zuckerberg
• “Whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it and whoever loses his life shall save it;?If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all; Out of death comes life.” —Jesus

Navigating paradox (sometimes called?competing values,?dialectics,?duality, or?polarity management)?leads to positive outcomes, which makes it an important skill to develop. (In other posts, I have talked about how?to personalize work?through paradox,?six steps?to navigating paradox,?ten skills?of paradox navigation,?four soft skills?(goals, information, relationships, agility) that require paradox, and managing?divergence and convergence.)

Navigating paradox shifts a “from . . . to” thinking to “and also” by exploring tensions to find innovative solutions. While we navigate numerous paradoxes (see figure 1 for ten common organization paradoxes), the paradox receiving attention lately is the tension between social and economic success. The social agenda revolves around workplace values, purpose, and employee experience; the economic agenda centers on accountability for marketplace results with customers and investors. Navigating the social/economic paradox impacts organizations, leaders, and individuals.

Social and also Economic Success: Organization Implications

Organization aspirations (mission, vision, strategies, goals) need to navigate social and economic agendas. Being socially responsible through ESG investments, corporate citizenship initiatives, and social and political declarations has become relevant as social issues exist in organizations. Being economically viable by being financially successful, serving customers, and meeting investor expectations also matters for organizations to survive. Without success in the marketplace, there is no workplace.?

Organizations that overdo either of these agendas likely get into trouble. Overplaying the social agenda may erode customer commitment and investor confidence (e.g., Bud Light, Disney). And emphasizing only financial performance may create a?toxic culture?that risks losing people (e.g., Twitter).?

Connecting the social and economic agendas occurs best when organizations focus on social issues that relate to their economic success. A company focused on industrial manufacturing required energy and water for their success, so they took aggressive public positions on these social issues. In addition, showing the relationship between employee experience and customer experience connects being a great place to work with being a great place to shop and to invest.?

When an organization’s social citizenship serves the economics of customers and investors, a virtuous cycle comes by doing social work “so that” economic success follows and ensuring economic sustainability “because of” a social agenda.??

Social and also Economic Success: Leadership Actions

Leaders enact a social agenda when they care about their employees by?showing empathy,?creating meaning, and?upgrading employee experience.?The economic agenda exists when leaders ensure accountability for results by setting standards, ensuring consequences, and having positive feedback conversations.

Navigating the social and economic paradox of leadership shows up in all five competence domains of the?leadership code?(see figure 3 for specific skills). Often, leadership is about having conversations about strategy, execution, talent today, human capability tomorrow, and oneself. When these conversations include both social and economic messages, leaders lead more effectively.?

For example, a positive performance conversation (where employees leave the conversation feeling better about themselves) might include: I care about you; you have great potential?(social).?You made a mistake that had negative consequences?(economic).?How can we learn from this experience to improve in the future?(social and also economic).

Social and also Economic Success: Individual Trade-Offs

At a personal level, the social agenda is caring for oneself emotionally, socially, and spiritually. The economic agenda is attending to learning to live with professional demands and financial expectations.

Navigating personal paradoxes occurs by attending to the trade-offs with the various stakeholders of our lives. Figure 4 lists six stakeholders and their expectations (you can change stakeholders if you like; these are mine). As an exercise, pick two numbers and explore the tensions of navigating both. For example:

• 1 and 3: How do I take care of myself (hobbies, health) (1) and spend time connecting with my wife (3)?
• 2 and 4: How do I manage my career (2) and spend time with my kids and family (4)?
• 5 and 6: How to I live my faith within my religious community (5) and participate in other social groups (6)?

Navigating these personal social and economic trade-offs comes by defining success at any given point in time and living to those expectations. The myth of “having it all all the time” is overcome by being realistic about personal choices and trade-offs. Navigating personal paradoxes may come from:

• Sequencing outcomes: At this life stage, parenting (4) matters more than career (2), but that might change over time as kids age.
• Combining outcomes: My spouse/partner and I (3) share the same hobbies (1) and religious values (5).
• Satisficing outcomes: I am not going to be as good at my hobbies (1) as I was because I won’t spend the time on it, but I will still participate in them.

When individuals recognize and consciously make personal trade-offs, they define success, control choices, and?live well.?

Now What?

The social and economic paradox affects organizations, leaders, and individuals. How do you navigate this paradox?

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Dave Ulrich?is the Rensis Likert Professor at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, and a partner at The RBL Group, a consulting firm focused on helping organizations and leaders deliver value.