Paradoxes are not identical. One paradox may be quite underwhelming, another overwhelming;hence, their intensity differs as do responses. We explore how organizational actor’s responsesto paradox vary, depending on how strongly the paradox is perceived to be in its enactments.We ask in what ways the perceived intensity of paradoxes constitutes how organizationmembers respond. By introducing the notion of intensity, we reformulate the meaning ofparadoxes embeddedness. In our conceptualization a paradox is not a thing whose shape isconserved but rather it shapes and reshapes as it crosses zones in a power circuit. We contributeto paradox theory by adding requisite variety and complexity to expand theoretical insight andinvite future research measuring the perceived intensity of paradoxes and exploring howorganization members flexibly navigate the zones of responses