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 [...]
Friend and Certified Polarity Practitioner in Germany, Thomas Schumacher, knew I was departing Amsterdam for Stockholm for the “Bridging Polarities” Inner Development Goals Summit. So, he thoughtfully sent me some reading material for the plane from the Academy of Management Learning & Education -- “Cultivating a Collective Paradox Mindset: Design Principles for Learning Interventions.” It’s [...]
This story was originally published at idgstories.com here. My story centers on work I did with two visionary leaders from Brazil, Roseangela Angonese and Julio Agostini. We combined dimensions of Collaborating + Acting to scale Thinking in ways that supported SDGs 11 and 13– sustainable cities and climate action. Country: United States IDG HUB: IDG Washington, D.C. [...]
Richard Rohr has dedicated his life to teachings that blend mysticism, contemplative practice, and social justice. Every morning I receive a meditation from this American Franciscan priest and spiritual writer. While I don’t read them every single day, I can say that over the past ten years the cumulative effect of the days I have [...]
Emilio J. Castilla’s recent book, The Meritocracy Paradox: Where Talent Management Strategies Go Wrong and How to Fix Them (2025) will likely fall victim to the anti-woke book-ban with the current administration's exclusive focus on “merit.” What’s wrong with merit hard work and talent? Nothing. Why is this book a chopping block? Because it focuses [...]
You used the term “And-vantage” in the presentation. What did you mean? Leveraging polarities increases speed, sustainability, and sustained success of change. Supplementing Or-thinking with And-thinking expands our ability to see the whole picture, work collaboratively, and even love more fully (Remember the two sayings: “Seeing is Relieving” and “Seeing is Loving”). We already have [...]
One of my greatest professional honors since 2014 has been serving as an Adjunct Faculty member in the KEY Executive Leadership Program at American University—a program dedicated to developing senior-level public sector leaders. I deeply admire these leaders for the depth and breadth of their mission-driven dedication to people in general, and to our country [...]