I am fascinated by the presence of intense contradictions in organizations. It may be possible that the highest performing, most innovative organizations are the ones that can manage the greatest degree of internal paradox, and not spin out of control, or lose their centre.

In HBR’s current “The Contradictions That Drive Toyota’s Success,” for example, the authors observe that it is intense contradiction that fuels the success of the dogged innovator, the cost manager that places big bets, the frugal splurger, the hierarchical meritocracy. These ideas are very Japanese, and I have always thought that Japanese life and culture is made more interesting by its many simultaneous opposites: ancient and post-modern, tacky and stylish, faddish and timeless, loud and silent, totally over-stimulated and completely Zen.