For organizations with dual missions, such as social responsibility and market performance, strategic goals are often interconnected yet contradictory. The paradoxical relationship between missions can lead to the risk of mission drift when organizations overlook their social missions over time. While paradox scholars have hinted at the importance of attention in transforming vicious dynamics (imbalances between paradox missions) into virtuous dynamics (balances between paradox missions) in decision-making, the attentional patterns and underlying mechanisms are not well investigated. Considering the role of meetings in which decisions around paradoxical goals are made are essential sites of communication that channel collective attention, through a case study of a UK housing association, we analyze organizational actors’ attention in meetings focused on regeneration projects. We elucidate that attention to dual missions in everyday meetings is fluid dynamic and is driven by three mechanisms: (1) directing attention through agendas, (2) shifting attention between poles, and (3) reinforcing attention by follow-ups. By further drawing on theoretical insights from paradox scholarship and the attention-based view, we develop a model of attention allocation in meetings. We demonstrate that interconnected attention mechanisms are at the core of vicious and virtuous dynamics, and address long-standing calls from paradox scholars to incorporate a systems perspective and identify strategies that support effective responses to paradoxes in meetings.
