Both/and approaches and vicious cycles: -a process study of navigating paradox during COVID-19

This paper seeks to explain why a both/and approach can lead to a vicious cycle instead of a virtuous one as paradox literature suggests. The study draws on data from a longitudinal process study of how a hospital navigated the paradox of treating patients during the COVID-19 pandemic with a both/and approach that resulted in reduced treatment capacity. By analyzing the events unfolding over time, I use a circular logic and induce a systemic model to explain how and why a both/and approach can lead to a vicious cycle. The explanation lies in two feedback loops, which are the effects of a both/and approach on resource scarcity and on affective conflicts among organizational members. The proposed model advances existing explanations on why a both/and approach can lead to a vicious or a virtuous cycle. The model underscores a shift in paradox scholarship to a processual understanding that accounts for effects on the conditions that surface paradox. These insights help organizations tap the creative potential of paradox and avoid the outcome irony that aiming to balance contradictory demands reduces the possibility to do so over time.