When pursuing to address strategic issues such as renewal, innovation, and change, decision-makers often face problems that incorporate dualities such as exploration vs. exploitation, or social vs. economical value. Whereas some dualities are solved by emphasizing one option and neglecting one, some dualities decision-makers choose to - or have to - handle simultaneously. This paper discusses the cognitive framing process of dualities in a laboratory setting, and the preference towards simultaneous (paradox) or separate (dilemma) options. The superiority of paradox solution has been widely discussed in the recent management literature. The findings of this study, however, show that in competitive and time pressured environment the participants performed better in the dilemma options, and also preferred dilemma options. These results point toward the importance of becoming aware of the managerial cognitive processes when analyzing strategic decisions under pressure. Implications are provided for strategy and innovation management literature.