The Penrose Staircase Paradox
Imagine moving upwards yet ending up always in the same place
The Penrose Staircase: Defying Logic, Leadership in Perplexity
Imagine climbing a stairway that loops back on itself, forever rising but never arriving.
The Penrose Paradox begins with the mind-bending premise of a staircase that turns four right angles and rises (or descends) in an unbroken loop, so you can climb forever yet never gain height. Such geometry is impossible in the physical world, but it convinces the eye because every segment looks sensible on its own. Even seasoned observers can keep stepping until they’re right back where they started.
This illusion comes to life in the famous Penrose (or “Escherian”) Staircase, first sketched by mathematicians (father and son) Lionel and Roger Penrose and popularized by dutch artist M. C. Escher with the lithograph “Ascending and Descending,” that shows monks climbing endlessly around the rooftop of a convent.
The drawing highlights the paradox: locally rational, globally impossible.
In 2013, a video from the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) seemed to reveal a real-world “Escherian Stairwell.” Viewers watched people walk up, loop around, and end exactly where they began, defying common sense. The truth is that this was an optical illusion, a modern myth with clever camera angles, digital compositing, and a fictional architect named “Rafael Nelson Aboganda” that helped sold the hoax. It doesn’t exist!
So what does an impossible staircase have to do with leadership?
Leadership can often feel like climbing a Penrose stair. Goals advance yet somehow deliverables loop back. Data both supports and refutes your strategy, and external trends seem to contradict each other. Rapid change resets progress regularly, and movement feels futile.
The Penrose Staircase teaches us that progress under contradiction demands both insight (are we in a dead loop?) and motion (we will see the progress!).
NERD ALERT: In case you never saw the representation of the Escherian staircase, and want to better understand what type of geometry would be needed to make this staircase work, watch this video.
Penrose Stairs Leadership Lessons
Recognize the illusion.
See the loop for what it is. Spot when a problem is structurally flawed or unproductive. If your team is working hard and is busy but results stay flat, question assumptions, shake the pattern. Be ready to step outside, it is obvious that each part of your “staircase” seems to be fine on its own, but if the whole effort loops back, you need to reset.
Iterate and Persevere.
Sometimes it’s the opposite, you just need to keep climbing even when the view isn’t changing because you know you are on the right path. Maintain momentum on proven initiatives and encourage your team to stay motivated, even when progress is not obvious at first. Breakthroughs often come after long struggle, not before.
Act with speed and focus at inflection points.
Not every turn of the stair requires a pause. At critical inflection points, “change must come at the speed of relevance.” (General Jim Mattis). When new information arrives, resist bureaucratic inertia; quickly iterate or decisively pivot.
Communicate with honesty and calm.
Confusion in an organization magnifies when people suspect there’s a hidden catch. Combat doubt with openness. Even if all answers aren’t known, explain the dilemma you are facing plainly and explain that we may end up needed to get out or stay in for a long time. Clarity under uncertainty builds trust and focus. Be composed and help navigate chaos. Provide context whenever priorities shift.
Align and Empower your team.
A Penrose staircase is climbed by an individual, but don’t forget that your whole team is climbing. Real challenges require teamwork. Firs foster a culture where it’s safe to point out the loop, and delegate initiative to capable people. When everyone understands that there’s a problem as the current path is circular, they’ll be more invested in finding the exit. Involve your team in re-charting the course.
The Penrose staircase may be impossible to climb, but your desired results must find the way up. Break the cycle or keep going, get it done.
Call to Action
In case you are climbing a Penrose staircase without knowing it, take the first step today: convene your team, review all your assumptions, understand your metrics, and revise the path to make sure it is truly ascending.
P.S. Before I go, here you have “The Treat,” where I share some of the music that kept me company while writing …
Today no music but a short clip from the movie “Inception”, where there’s a reference to the Penrose staircase.
“Lead yourself, Learn to live. Lead others, Learn to Build.”
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