Building sense out of situational complexity

Abstract

There is growing consensus among scholars that the organizational environment has become increasingly complex, dynamic, and socially demanding. Leaders and followers navigate through a cognitive paradox where assessments of the situation can be at once cognitively overpowering and cognitively deceiving. In this article, we propose that complex situations can lead to ambivalence, a psychological state caused by contrasting evaluative orientations toward an object or situation. We propose that ambivalence can become a functional cognitive process that provides cognitive discomfort and fluidity for joint contextual interpretation when leaders and followers share ambivalent cognitive states. We develop a theoretical model of how this process unfolds, highlighting how and when situational complexity can trigger leader and follower ambivalence leading to distinct interpretative processes. Taken together, we explain how ambivalence can facilitate collaborative contextual interpretation within complex situations. In so doing, we advance the current understanding of ambivalence by explicating its role in creating functional leadership processes.