We often find some of the greatest bits of wisdom in paradox. The difficulty in understanding a paradox comes from the fact that when it’s heard as a maxim in some kind of verbal form, it is contradictory and not intuitively grasped. Paradoxes are better understood through experience.
The Stockdale Paradox is one such concept that, at first glance, takes some linguistic mental jumping jacks to fully grasp. This paradox was first put forward in Jim Collin’s book Good to Great, a seminal corporate self-help and leadership book.
Author Jim Collins found a perfect example of this paradoxical concept in James Stockdale, former vice-presidential candidate, who, during the Vietnam War, was held captive as a prisoner of war for over seven years. Despite being tortured more than twenty times by his captors, and having little reason to believe he would survive the prison camp.
Stockdale never....
