The Genius of the AND
First, leaders of endurung great companies are comfortable with paradox i.e., having the ability to embrace two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time. Second, they don’t oppress themselves with the “Tyranny of the OR” e.g., to believe that things must be either A OR B, but not both. The best leaders liberate themselves with the Genius of the AND—the ability to embrace both extremes of a number of dimensions at the same time. In the words of F. Scott Fitzgerald, “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.”
Some Genius of the AND examples:
Disciplined And Creative
Empirical validation And Bold moves
Prudence And BHAGs (Big Harry Audacious Goals)
Paranoid And Courageous
Ferociously ambitious And Not egocentric
Severe performance standards, no excuses And Never going too far, able to hold back
On a 20 Mile March And Fire bullets, then cannonballs
Threshold innovation And One fad behind
Cannot predict the future And Prepred for what they cannot predict
Go slow when they can And Go fast when they must
Disciplined thought And Decisive action
Zoom out And Zoom in
Adhering to a SMaC recipe And Amending a SMaC recipe (Specific, Methodical, Consistent)
Consistency And Change
Never count on luck And Get a high ROL when luck comes