Humans hate contradiction.
Us psychologists call it cognitive dissonance—that gnawing discomfort when your beliefs and actions don’t match. It’s not just a vibe. It’s a threat. So your brain races to fix it:
“I didn’t really want the job anyway.” “This is fine. Everyone’s doing it.” “I love working weekends.” (Sure you do, Steve.)
Because contradiction doesn’t just itch—it unravels us. And your brain would rather rewrite reality than sit with a story that doesn’t line up.
But here’s the twist:
In strategy, contradiction isn’t a bug to fix. It’s a feature to build on.
Cognitive dissonance makes people change. Strategic dissonance makes people care.
The best brands don’t resolve tension. They live in it.
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Patagonia: “Don’t buy this jacket.”
Tesla: Luxury and sustainability.
Ben & Jerry’s: Sugar highs and social justice.
Nike: Be the best and just do it.
None of these are logical positions. They’re emotional contradictions—deliberately designed.
Because great strategy isn’t tidy. It’s great art. And great art isn’t defined by balance. It’s defined by tension.
“We are prone to overestimate how much we understand the world and to underestimate the role of chance.” —Daniel Kahneman
And so we cling to neat answers—when the truth is almost never that neat.
Most strategies get polished until they’re dead. All the weird edges sanded off. All the friction resolved.
But real human decisions? They’re messy. Emotional. Unstable.
And that’s where the magic is.
It’s the same reason we love tragic heroes and flawed protagonists. We don’t believe in perfect. We believe in conflicted.
So here’s the rule:
If it feels like cognitive dissonance, your brain will try to kill it. If it feels like strategic dissonance, your brand might just come alive.
Hold the tension. Build the friction. Don’t explain it away.
Because in the gap between what makes sense and what matters— That’s where strategy gets interesting.
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