Dear friend,
Who is right? Jesus says, I am the son of God. Muhammad is shown there is no father and no son, that God is one. Buddha, in his searching, finds no God at all. Nietzsche famously declares that God is dead.
So whom should we follow? The question itself can lock us into a false necessity, as if we must pick one and reject the rest. But what if they all make sense, each shining light on a different aspect of the same ultimate truth? In different contexts, they may make different sense to different people. Our sense-making is tied to context, not only to facts, and that context stays invisible when we rush to decide, or to prove someone else wrong. We look at facts with contextual eyes.
At work it is no different. We need to cut costs. No, we must invest in innovation. Speed is everything. Quality cannot be rushed. The ability to hold two, or more, opposing perspectives as simultaneously valid is the key to a paradoxical mind. Paradox feels like contradiction, but it is really an invitation to move past “this or that” and into “this and that.” When we do, we gain a deeper, more nuanced grasp of reality, at work and in everyday life.
Take a concrete example. Adopting a new technology can spark conflict on a team. One colleague sees the new AI tool as a threat to hard-won processes; another sees a breakthrough for creativity. They look opposed. But what if both perspectives hold truth, each for the person holding it? You can honor the value of experience and stability and still welcome fresh methods. By listening with curiosity, genuinely trying to understand why someone sees it differently, you enrich your own sense of what is possible.
So how do we build a mind that can hold paradox? First, suspend your certainties: begin by admitting, “I do not know everything; what might I be missing?” Second, listen deeper: genuinely explore the other person’s view, and do not just say you got it, actually get it. Third, allow contradictions to coexist: recognize that several valid perspectives can stand side by side without canceling each other out.
This week, notice the moments of tension or disagreement, at work or at home, and challenge yourself to hold both sides as valid. Ask, what if we are both right, in different ways? Let the question open new avenues of collaboration and insight. You will find that life is richer and more spacious when you dare to embrace the paradox.
With care,Saqib