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 tacit wisdom about polarities — the Polarity Map® support seeing and leveraging tensions in the two poles of a polarity.

What’s the Biggest Misconception About Polarity Thinking?

  • That And-Thinking to leverage Polarities is being suggested as a replacement for Or-Thinking and traditional problem-solving. Rejecting Or-thinking and suggesting And-thinking as the better alternative replacement is an example of Or-thinking — we need both thinking competencies.
    • Or-thinking (choosing one option over another) is an essential thinking competency for solving problems.
    • And-thinking (seeing and working with interdependencies) is a vital thinking competency that supplements, not replaces, Or-thinking.

What helps MOST in Our Polarized Environment?

  • Remembering that power in polarities can be claimed and shared to benefit everyone and avoid abuse of power.
  • Listening to the alternate point of view, especially across power differences, is critical. Those holding less power often experience the downsides of both poles in polarities, which make it more important for them to feel heard. This supports being useful as a witness to people’s experiences – hearing (not necessarily CONDONING) their perspective absolutely essential to creating trust on the way to leveraging polarity tensions well.

Give a 2-min Polarity Elevator Speech

  • Polarities are interdependent pairs (also called paradoxes, dilemmas, and tensions) that are technically unsolvable by trying to choose one pole in the pair as a solution.
  • They unavoidable, indestructible — they exist everywhere and at every level (self, teams, organizations, nations).
  • Each pole of a polarity has benefits (upsides) and limitations (downsides).
  • Over-focusing on one pole while neglecting the other leads to predictable dysfunction and an escalation of trouble/s.
  • Polarities are energy systems that naturally oscillate between poles.
  • This flow can create virtuous cycles (positive reinforcement) or vicious cycles (negative spirals).
  • Downsides of one pole often drive us toward the upside of the other — but switching poles is not a final “solution.”
  • The greater the complexity, the more valuable and useful polarity thinking becomes.
  • Mapping polarities with those involved in tensions organizes the wisdom from different perspectives, showing upsides, downsides, actions, and early warnings.
    • The goal: maximize both upsides and minimize both downsides in service of a Greater Purpose Statement (GPS).
  • High Leverage Actions can be identified that help benefit both poles simultaneously – thus, you’re working SMARTER and not harder.
  • Early Warnings help you self-correct before sliding too far into a downside.

When Working w/Polarities on My Team, What Are Some Tips?

  • See the “Misconceptions” response, above.
  • Use “And” not “Vs” when describing the two poles.
  • Use the term “Leverage” not “balance” when discussion the desired goal.
  • The key to building trust and moving forward in ways that can be sustained involves understanding the fears and values of those “holding on” to their preferred pole and the fears of the downside of the less preferred pole.
  • Remember that values come in pairs, and fears often reflect the risk of losing the value on the opposite pole.
  • When conflict exists over a polarity, both sides have wisdom that may be “right” even of only partially so – both points of view in a polarity need the other point of view’s wisdom, over time.