I was taught the secret to becoming a famous writer.

About a year ago, I ended up having to attend a leadership training program. I approached it with a positively ironic attitude. Having served as a leader countless times and now nearing 50, was this training really necessary? Two weeks before it started, I received six standard storyboards. The assignment was to write a story for each. "If they think they can analyze people with assignments like this, they're sorely mistaken." I deliberately wrote six incoherent stories.

On the first day of the program, I greeted Jamie. She was a psychologist from Harvard Business School and the program director. She smiled warmly and said to me, "Nice to meet you, Andy. I liked your stories. Let's find time to talk."

In her lecture, Jamie explained how to decode participants' stories. No matter how nonsensical the story, certain patterns emerge. By analyzing the words and phrases I used, she could pinpoint what kind of leader I was. Her analysis matched the facts remarkably well.

"You said you wanted to talk to me?" I approached Jamie on the final day. "Exceptionally talented writers invariably weave paradox into their work. Like you do." That single remark made me think. Why are we drawn to "truths that seem contradictory" in novels, songs, or films? I examined famous works. Every single one was full of paradoxes.

Socrates: "The only thing I know is that I know nothing." Mario Puzo's The Godfather. The protagonist Michael Corleone is both a good man and a bad man. Gotye's hit song "Somebody That I Used to Know." It sings of a man who feels lonely even while with his lover. William Golding's novel 'Lord of the Flies'. Well-bred boys shipwrecked on a desert island, their animal nature exposed as they struggle to survive. The popular TV series 'Game of Thrones'. Tyrion Lannister, the shortest of them all, commands a giant's presence when it matters most.

What about advertising? A Mexican restaurant chain that won the Grand Prix at Cannes Lions. To me, the essence of their message comes across like this: "We care about the environment and raise our livestock with respect. Until they become ingredients." My first major advertising award came from work for a client selling outdoor experience programs. "Last on the first day. First on the last day." A paradoxical tagline (inserted work). Looking back, I realize paradoxes have been my constant companions since I started this work.

(Supervised by: Dentsu Inc. Global Business Center)