Focus Magazine - Fall 2013 - 50

5 QUESTIONS
Kevin Kruse

5 Questions With…

Ralph Jacobson

ometimes, the best way forward is to step
backward. Sounds like a paradox right?
Ralph Jacobson, the author of Getting
Unstuck: Using Leadership Paradox to Execute
with Confidence and founder of The Leader’s
Toolbox, Inc., has made a career out of providing
innovative solutions to businesses, including in
executive HR positions with companies like
Medtronic and Crosfield Dicomed.
I recently spoke with Ralph Jacobson about
balance, perspective and paradoxes.

Ralph Jacobson, author
of Getting Unstuck:
Using Leadership
Paradox to Execute
with Confidence

Kevin Kruse (KK): Isn’t “Paradox” a term that
only philosophers need to know?
Ralph Jacobson (RJ): I used to think the same,
until I discovered that most of the issues
leaders struggle with are not problems that
can be solved, they are paradoxes that must
be balanced. Whenever you have two or
three alternatives that appear
simultaneously as both right and wrong,
that’s a paradox. Do I do what is best for me
or for my department/company? Do we
focus on the short or long term? Personal
life or professional life? Invest or take
profits? These are paradoxes that all of us
experience in formulating strategy,
implementing projects and leading change.
KK: The concept of paradox goes back
thousands of years. Why did you write
Getting Unstuck?
RJ: I interviewed 15 senior leaders to learn how
they addressed their organization’s
paradoxes. To my surprise most of these
leaders did not know what the word meant
or its implication for them. There was no
publication I could share with them that
would provide an adequate treatment.

KK: Why is knowing whether something is a
problem or a paradox important?
RJ: First, we know that organizations that
identify their critical paradoxes and actively
manage them are more successful over the
longer term. Second, those who understand
the concept of paradox are more adaptable
to change. Third, paradox helps to explain
many of the obstacles to growth and change
experienced at the different organization
levels and cycles. Knowing these obstacles
are paradoxes and developing the skills to
address them creates the platform for new
possibilities.
KK: This is all good, but is there a practical
reason for making the distinction between
a problem and a paradox?
RJ: If you treat a paradox as if it were a
problem, the paradox gets worse. We need
to be able to distinguish whether the issue
before us is a problem or a paradox. We
have learned and are naturally hardwired to
address problems. Unfortunately we are not
naturally equipped to deal with paradox.
KK: What implications does the concept of
paradox have for HR and trainers?
RJ: As advisors to senior leaders in the areas of
strategy and execution, it is vital to know
how to address the naturally occurring
paradoxes that are part of the organizational landscape. The concept of paradox
and the associated tools will be of significant value to those organizations that are
embarking on change. The ability to understand the management of paradox is a
relatively easily acquired skill that can to a
great extent be taught. I

Kevin Kruse is the executive director of SPBT and co-author of the New York Times best-seller,
We: How to Increase Performance and Profits through Full Engagement. Email Kevin at kkruse@spbt.org.

FOCUS | FALL 2013 | www.spbt.org

http://www.spbt.org

Focus Magazine - Fall 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Focus Magazine - Fall 2013