janusian thinking

embracing paradox and dialectical thinking

The Roman god, Janus, had two faces looking in opposite directions. This peering forward and backward symbolized duality. As the guardian of transition, he could see what was and what will be. January is named after Janus.

In the late 1970’s, psychiatrist and researcher, Albert Rothenberg, introduced the concept of Janusian thinking - the ability to conceive and embrace contradictory ideas simultaneously.

Dialectical thinking. Both/And thinking. Paradox.

Rothenberg argued that by holding opposing concepts simultaneously, new perspectives and insights appear. You’ll see a problem from different angles, or reframe the problem altogether. Holding contradictions might even spark a paradigm shift.¹

Einstein’s work showed that light behaves like a particle and a wave. Dali’s art provoked us with the real and the unreal; the juxtaposition of contradictory elements.

Embracing paradox, and ideas that appear contradictory, often reveal deeper truths.²

“But this is precisely what the great artist does. He is able to bring together clashing colors, forms that fight each other, dissonances of all kinds, into a unity. And this is also what the great theorist does when he puts puzzling and inconsistent facts together so that we can see that they really belong together. And so also for the great statesman, the great therapist, the great philosopher, the great parent, the great inventor. They are all integrators, able to bring separates and even opposites together into unity.” - Abraham Maslow, Creativity in Self-Actualizing People

But it’s not easy. Holding opposing ideas feels uncomfortable and counterintuitive. Our brains are wired to resolve contradictions, not dwell in them. We don’t like the cognitive dissonance. We’ve been trained to choose, not synthesize. We prefer clean answers, without the messy ambiguity. Why burn the extra brain calories when the binary, either/or, black-and-white thinking is right there for the taking?

Because the good stuff comes when we see beyond the current paradigm. So, how can we see paradox, not as a problem, but a signpost for discovery?

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Here are some exercises to practice your Janusian thinking.

• Map the opposing forces in your work, discipline or industry.

  • How do the contradictions complement each other?

  • How do the they interact, influence, or reshape one another?

  • How might embracing or reconciling the contradiction lead to a breakthroughs?

• Create juxtaposition in your work.

  • Play with contrasting themes: chaos vs. order, tradition vs. innovation, etc.

  • Blend contrasting imagery to evoke an emotional response: beauty in a wasteland, etc.

  • Contrast the past and the present, or the present and the future: use flashbacks or parallel timelines to show what’s changed.

  • Mix conflicting moods: pair upbeat music with melancholy lyrics

• Ask paradoxical questions.

  • How can we create something exclusive and widely accessible?

  • How can we build something that feels familiar yet new?

  • How might we offer a service that is both predictable and full of surprises?

“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald

What are the contradictions and paradoxes in your work?

1. "A paradigm is what we think about when we’re not thinking." – Joel Barker

“In posing two opposing ideas, a whole new idea is created.” - Friedrich Hegel

“Rather like a binary poison - or a magic potion - two inert elements combine to produce something of frightening potency.” - Stephen Donaldson

2. "The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain." - Khalil Gibran, The Prophet

Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it. - Jesus, Luke 17:33

“Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.” – Søren Kierkegaard

"What’s past is prologue." – William Shakespeare, The Tempest