Transforming Business: Coping with Paradoxes in Purpose-Driven Innovation

The future of our world is up for debate. We are confronted with climate change, geopolitical tensions, polarization in society, demographic issues, disruptive technologies, poverty, and health issues. Many social issues affect people directly, and they want to do something about it. They envision a future, bring allies together, and get to work. Small initiatives lead to innovative and values-driven alliances with a positive impact on our society. The mission of a values-driven alliance is to make positive changes in our society. Because of the societal mission and the scope of values-driven alliances, collaboration is complex and full of paradoxes. This chapter presents eight paradoxes that provide insights into how to deal with irreconcilably opposed views and resulting actions in the life cycle of values-driven alliances.