An impossible choice? Great!

Do you strive to break problems down into simple, binary choice? Paradoxically, you risk making your life more complicated.

It is better to embrace the tensions between apparently incompatible options: you’ll be more creative with better peace of mind. Day-to-day life is full of tensions that are difficult or even impossible to balance: how can you reduce the price paid without driving down the quality? How can you facilitate diversity with standardized recruitment processes? These dilemmas bring joy to anyone blessed with a paradoxical mindset. These individuals are convinced that seemingly impossible choices are a rich source of creativity, and they actively search out conflicting positions.

Are they masochists? In fact, what they try to do is move beyond short-term solutions to find a longer-term balance. Follow their example:

Always keep the overall goal in mind and look at the wider picture.

Try to find synergies between opposites; how can you link them?

Accept the discomfort of these tensions without putting up a useless fight.

Ask for opposing opinions.

All this might sound exhausting… In reality, you’ll feel satisfied and re-energized in your quest for novel solutions.

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