Technology and policy: Opposite ends of the paradox spectrum?

Abstract

Based on preliminary research of the experience of "soft subject" groups like the policy community, we believe that engineers, especially those developing systems of systems, may benefit from an appreciation of paradox. For example, the policy community not only reckons with paradox, it embraces and leverages it to address problems that might otherwise prove intractable. We briefly review the definition of paradox and summarize its potential to generate "breakthrough" thinking that can produce innovative solutions, and illustrate some contemporary engineering problems that contain paradoxes. We then recount several historical examples of successfully applied paradoxical thinking, illustrate the paradoxes inherent in two fundamental systems thinking constructs, and postulate a three-step approach to leveraging paradox in problem solving situations. We close by posing some key follow-on questions and a research program designed to support the development of paradox-related training in a systems thinking/engineering training curriculum. © 2008 IEEE.