Leading through paradox
How educational leaders can handle contradictory demands by embracing uncertainty and moving beyond either/or thinking
"O servant, where dost thou seek Me?
Lo! I am beside thee.
I am neither in temple nor in mosque: I am neither in Kaaba nor in Kailash:
Neither am I in rites and ceremonies, nor in Yoga and renunciation.
If thou art a true seeker, thou shalt at once see Me: thou shalt meet Me in a moment of time.
Kabîr says, 'O Sadhu! God is the breath of all breath.'"
This evocative verse from Kabir—rendered by Rabindranath Tagore—serves as a potent starting point for rethinking leadership in education. In this post, we explore three interrelated scholarly perspectives—apophatic theory, the method of neti, neti, and the management of paradox—to illuminate strategies for contemporary educational leadership.
The challenge of educational complexity
Educational leaders face challenges that defy simple solutions or binary thinking. The pressure to simultaneously maintain operational excellence while fostering innovation, to standardize while personalizing, and to preserve while transforming creates a complex web of seemingly contradictory demands that can paralyze decision-making and impede progress.
Three distinct but complementary philosophical and managerial frameworks offer a way through this complexity: apophatic theology's via negativa, the Upanishadic method of neti neti, and contemporary paradox management theory. These approaches suggest that the most profound truths - and most effective leadership strategies - often emerge not from choosing between alternatives or even trying to combine them, but from transcending traditional either/or thinking entirely.
This transcendence requires a shift in how we conceptualize leadership. Rather than seeking to resolve tensions or find perfect balance points, effective educational leaders must learn to operate in a space that is neither one thing nor another - a space of dynamic possibility that emerges when we move beyond our instinct to categorize, define, and control.
The power of negative space
Apophatic theology, as discussed in Dura's (2018) analysis, offers a model for understanding how truth can be approached through systematic negation. This tradition suggests that ultimate reality cannot be captured through positive assertions but can be glimpsed by progressively eliminating what it is not. In leadership terms, this means sometimes the most effective way to create change is not by specifying what should be, but by clearly identifying and removing what should not be.
In educational contexts, apophatic leadership manifests as a willingness to systematically question and eliminate outdated practices, limiting beliefs, and structural obstacles that impede learning and growth. Rather than immediately trying to define new initiatives or programs, leaders first create space for emergence by identifying and removing barriers to innovation and authentic learning.
This approach requires considerable courage, as it means leading from a place of conscious uncertainty. Just as Kabir's poem suggests that the divine is found not in temples or rituals but in the immediate presence of being, transformative educational practices often emerge not from predetermined plans but from the space created when we release our attachment to existing forms and certainties.
Neither this, nor that
The ancient Upanishadic method of neti neti ("not this, not this") provides another approach to transcending limited understanding through progressive negation. As Dura (2018) explains, this is not mere elimination but a sophisticated epistemological strategy for approaching truth by systematically identifying what it is not. This method suggests that our most profound insights often come not from accumulating knowledge but from stripping away misconceptions.
In educational leadership, the neti neti framework offers a practical methodology for reform. Instead of beginning with positive prescriptions for change, leaders can guide their communities through a process of identifying what quality education is not, what effective teaching is not, what meaningful learning is not. This negative definition creates clarity while maintaining openness to emergent possibilities that might be foreclosed by premature positive definition.
This approach is particularly valuable in times of rapid change, when traditional models and metrics may no longer serve. By helping stakeholders understand what no longer works - what education is not and can no longer be - leaders create cognitive and emotional space for genuine transformation while avoiding the pitfalls of prescriptive solutions that may quickly become obsolete.
Embracing leadership paradox
Smith and Tushman's (2005) research on managing strategic contradictions provides a contemporary framework that complements these ancient approaches. Their concept of "paradoxical cognition" suggests that organizational success requires leaders who can simultaneously hold and work with seemingly contradictory imperatives. This isn't about finding balance points or compromises, but about developing the cognitive capacity to embrace paradox itself as a source of organizational vitality.
In education, this manifests as the ability to simultaneously honor tradition while fostering innovation, to maintain high standards while personalizing learning, to provide structure while promoting autonomy. Rather than seeing these as problems to be solved, paradoxical leadership treats them as polarities to be leveraged for organizational learning and growth.
This approach aligns with both apophatic and neti neti frameworks in its transcendence of either/or thinking. Together, these perspectives suggest that educational leadership is not about choosing between alternatives or even finding ways to combine them, but about operating in a more sophisticated cognitive space that is neither one thing nor another but something qualitatively different.
Practical implications for educational leaders
The integration of these three frameworks - apophatic leadership, neti neti methodology, and paradox management - suggests specific practices for educational leaders. Primary among these is the development of what might be called "negative capability" - the ability to remain in uncertainty and doubt without reaching for premature solutions or false certainty.
This capability can be cultivated through specific organizational practices: regular questioning of assumptions, systematic identification and elimination of barriers, creation of spaces for emergence and innovation, and development of team capacity for working with paradox. Leaders must model comfort with ambiguity while maintaining clear focus on core educational values and student needs.
Implementation requires both structural and cultural changes. Structurally, leaders must create forums for deep dialogue about what is not working and what needs to be eliminated, while developing systems that can simultaneously support both stability and innovation. Culturally, they must foster acceptance of ambiguity and paradox while maintaining the sense of purpose and direction that communities need to function effectively.
References
Dura, I. (2018). “Defining the Indefinable”: The hermeneutics of the Upanishadic negation neti, neti in Sankara's apophatic theology. In Proceedings of the XXIII World Congress of Philosophy, 16 (pp. 522–536).
Smith, W. K., & Tushman, M. L. (2005). Managing strategic contradictions: A top management model for managing innovation streams. Organization Science, 16(5), 522–536.
Tagore, R. (Trans.). (n.d.). The Songs of Kabir. Retrieved from https://www.holybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/Songs-of-Kabir-by-Tagore.pdf