Productive Organisational Paradoxes

This POP talk was recorded on 21st of January 2019 in London at a SCiO open day. Most of this story, but told gently, is in Chapter 5 of essentialbalan.... The slides are available at www.strategics....
Short description
==============
It is often said that organisations are full of paradoxes. But this refers to contradictions and tensions. It is understood as something that needs to be taken care of. When organisations are looked at as social systems, however, it becomes clear that they are only possible because of paradoxes, and particularly paradoxes of self-reference. Understanding how these paradoxes create and maintain organisations is an important skill for practitioners trying to make sense of what's going on and improve it. The basic generative organisational paradox is that of decisions. It brings new light not only on decision patterns and dependencies, but also on understanding the nature of objectives, power, and relations with clients.