I can’t stop thinking about the steady decline in the quality of our dialogue. Not just online. Not just in politics. I see it in families. In teams. In organizations. In communities. Across states. At the national level. And yes—even in the so-called “United” Nations. The tone is harder. The listening thinner. The certainty louder. [...]
(This Cliff’sNOTE was inspired by the book, The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt)Let me start with a confession.I fall into these traps all the time.Despite knowing the theory. Despite teaching this work. Despite having Polarity Thinking™ tattooed on my professional soul. I still catch myself sliding into moral certainty, reacting before reflecting, assuming my intuition is [...]
A Practical Application Framework for Coaches The ICF Core Competencies describe the domains of effective coaching practice. What they do not explicitly name are the dynamic tensions that skilled coaches must continually navigate within and across those competencies. These tensions are not problems to be solved, but interdependent pairs of values that must be leveraged [...]
Borrowing—somewhat provocatively—from John Lennon’s frustrated refrain “Gimme Some Truth”—I’m not making this political. (Though I easily could.) Instead, I want to talk about something quieter, more common, and arguably more influential in everyday life: Bumper-sticker wisdom. Here’s my definition: Bumper-sticker wisdom is a partial truth, packaged as universal guidance. It works because it’s short. It’s [...]
Cross-walk, below… Backstory, here… Over a decade ago, I met Dr. Bill Benet at a Polarity Learning Community gathering where he shared his doctoral research on the Polarities of Democracy. I was immediately intrigued and deeply impressed by his work. In the intervening years, civic life in the U.S. was fraying at an accelerated pace [...]
AI is not just a technical shift—it is an identity, responsibility, and systems shift for leadership. In a wonderful article published in the Academy of Management Review, Vol. 46, No. 1, 192-210 Raisch & Krakowski (2021) discuss the dynamics at the heart of Artificial Intelligence and Management. I got some initial help from AI to summarize [...]
Engström et al., 2025 describes what happens when organizations begin experimenting with AI—and why the experience often feels confusing, stuck, or fragmented. With some help from AI, I did a summary of the article and added some of my thoughts from my background in Polarity Thinking™. This wonderful article was originally published in the Journal of [...]
At the “Bridging Polarities” Inner Development Goals Summit in Stockholm last month, I attended the AI Track on Day 2. All of the sessions were amazing and I will follow-up with more Cliff’sNOTES – and, I started with this one because – I’ll let the pictures below answer why! And, shout out to presenter Joakim Eriksson, [...]
“If your strategy does not leverage polarity, then it’s not strategic…” -Bob de Wit & Ron Meyer For decades, I’ve used the powerful quote in this Note’s title, so I thought – let’s do a quick summary of Strategy Synthesis to capture the 10 key pairs, their meaning, and how polarity thinking shapes effective strategic [...]
Maria Popova (See: The Marginalian) is on my short-list of people and groups that provide an “Island of Coherence in a Sea of Chaos” in these strange and challenging times. Below is the lead-up to her amazing piece from today on Steinbeck’s Sea of Cortez. And also, my Polarity Map (Quest for Certainty And Openness [...]