A Course in Paradoxical ThinkingWhy Transformations Cannot Be Managed and So Must Be Managed

260 Seiten (Printausgabe)

Erscheinungsjahr 2026

19,90 €

Transformation is a key term these days, whether in politics or in business.

Eric Wenzel examines recurring paradoxes that shape transformation processes but are rarely discussed in mainstream literature. To do so, he deliberately takes a transdisciplinary approach, drawing on insights from cultural anthropology, philosophy, complexity science, and historical research, for example, ideas from the philosopher Hans-Georg Gadamer and the historian Carlo Ginzburg, to present an entirely new understanding of change processes that takes these paradoxes seriously.

This book is slow food for both experienced transformation and project managers, as well as consultants, and also for anyone interested in complexity and organizations who, when consuming the news, wonders why so many transformation initiatives fail. According to Wenzel, transformation work begins precisely where our intentional actions produce unintended consequences.

The book will particularly appeal to those willing to engage with a text that offers unusual, unconventional, or even counterintuitive forms of intervention. The subtitle poses – and answers – the central insight of the book: why transformation cannot be managed and must therefore be done anyway – just not in the way you thought.

Pressestimmen

»This book, grounded in real world experiences of major transformative projects, urges practitioners not to take an overly simplistic view of such changes, or seek to impose order upon them that is not consistent with their complexity. Rather, the book draws on theoretical and philosophical perspectives on the paradoxes, dilemmas and challenges that major transformation brings and how staying with those challenges can be fruitful.« (Dr. Dr. Paula Jarzabkowski, Professor of Strategic Management, University of Queensland, and City St George’s, University of London)