Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The two of us have spent years studying how people deal with their toughest problems. We have found that regardless of the situation, these problems are difficult because they present us with dilemmas - choices between alternatives. #2 Tensions, dilemmas, and paradoxes are all types of situations where alternative expectations and demands are in opposition. They can drive creativity and sustainability, or lead to defensiveness and destruction. Their impact depends on how we respond. #3 The paradoxes underlying these tensions are not just oppositional, but also interdependent. They define and reinforce one another. While the details of the presenting dilemma may change, the underlying paradoxes remain. #4 We often apply either/or thinking to all sorts of challenges in our lives, from where we should eat dinner to what we should do with our lives. This type of thinking is useful when the consequences of the decision are minimal and it isn't worth the time or effort to explore the issue further.

An insightful and inspiring book on using "both/and" thinking to make more creative, flexible, and impactful decisions in a world of competing demands. Life is full of paradoxes. How can we each express our individuality while also being a team player? How do we balance work and life? How can we improve diversity while promoting opportunities for all? How can we manage the core business while innovating for the future? For many of us, these competing and interwoven demands are a source of conflict. Since our brains love to make either-or choices, we choose one option over the other. We deal with the uncertainty by asserting certainty. There's a better way. In Both/And Thinking, Wendy Smith and Marianne Lewis help readers cope with multiple, knotted tensions at the same time. Drawing from more than twenty years of pioneering research, they provide tools and lessons for transforming these tensions into opportunities for innovation and personal growth. Filled with practical advice and fascinating stories—including firsthand tales from IBM, LEGO, and Unilever, as well as from startups, nonprofits, and even an inn at one of the four corners of the world—Both/And Thinking will change the way you approach your most vexing problems.

Interdisciplinary Dialogues on Organizational Paradox is an innovative two-part volume that enriches our understanding about paradox. Part B continues the exploration of the why, how and where of interdisciplinary research within paradox theory by looking at the realms of social structure and expression.

Paradoxes, contrary propositions that are not contestable separately but that are inconsistent when conjoined, constitute a pervasive feature of contemporary organizational life. When contradictory elements are constituted as equally important in day-to-day work, organizational actors frequently experience acute tensions in engaging with these contradictions. This Element discusses the presence of paradoxes in the life of organizations, introduces the reader to the notion of paradox in theory and practice, and distinguishes paradox and adjacent conceptualizations such as trade-off, dilemma, dialectics, ambiguity, etc. This Element also covers what triggers paradoxes and how they come into being whereby the Element distinguishes latent and salient paradoxes and how salient paradoxes are managed. This Element discusses key methodological challenges and possibilities of studying, teaching, and applying paradoxes and concludes by considering some future research questions left unexplored in the field.

In the years between the world wars, Manhattan's Fourteenth Street-Union Square district became a center for commercial, cultural, and political activities, and hence a sensitive barometer of the dramatic social changes of the period. It was here that four urban realist painters--Kenneth Hayes Miller, Reginald Marsh, Raphael Soyer, and Isabel Bishop--placed their images of modern "new women." Bargain stores, cheap movie theaters, pinball arcades, and radical political organizations were the backdrop for the women shoppers, office and store workers, and consumers of mass culture portrayed by these artists. Ellen Wiley Todd deftly interprets the painters' complex images as they were refracted through the gender ideology of the period. This is a work of skillful interdisciplinary scholarship, combining recent insights from feminist art history, gender studies, and social and cultural theory. Drawing on a range of visual and verbal representations as well as biographical and critical texts, Todd balances the historical context surrounding the painters with nuanced analyses of how each artist's image of womanhood contributed to the continual redefining of the "new woman's" relationships to men, family, work, feminism, and sexuality.

In this rich resource for American actors, renowned movement teachers and directors reveal the physical skills needed for the stage and screen. Experts in a wide array of disciplines provide remarkable insight into the Alexander technique, the use of psychological gesture, period movement, the work of Rudolph Laban, postmodern choreography, and Suzuki training, to name but a few. Those who want to pursue serious training will be able to consult the appendix for listings of the best teachers and schools in the country. This inspiring collection is a must read for all actors, directors, and teachers of theater looking for stimulation and new approaches.

Most of us would recognize a star leader by their charisma, emotional intelligence and public communication prowess. What is truly impressive but often overlooked is the silent work of leadership that garners real results. Exercising influence in a complex and global organization – whilst also shaping and executing strategies across borders in a disruptive age – is the true mark of success as a leader. Backstage Leadership takes a comprehensive look at the background processes that leaders must master in order to shape the culture, direction and capability of a successful company. With an emphasis on strategy, the author provides an integrated toolkit for developing your knowledge and skills as a 'backstage leader.' You will learn how to: Mobilize people towards new strategic directions Scan your business environment for threats and disruptive forces Diagnose and help to shape the culture of your organization Develop talent and capabilities towards a specific goal. Focusing on the key and consistent underlying processes of leadership, this book is essential reading for managers who wish to bring focus and coherence to their leadership role and integrate themselves within the engine of the organization.