(Summary written by Barry Johnson, Co-founder of Polarity Partnerships)
The Polarity Management(TM) model and set of principles are a user-friendly way to deal with all polarities in life. Polarities are ongoing, chronic issues that are unavoidable and unsolvable. Attempting to address them with traditional problem solving skills only makes things worse. There is significant competitive advantage for those leaders, teams, or organizations that can distinguish between a problem to solve and a polarity to manage and are effective with both.
Polarity Management increases in value as the system or issue:
- Increases in complexity
- Increases in diversity
- Increases in speed of change
- Increases in resistance to changePolarity Management can help:
Polarity Management can help:
- Simplify the complexity without being simplistic
- Capitalize on diversity without alienating the diverse groups
- Provide predictability and stability amidst accelerating change
- Convert resistance to change to a resource for sustainable, ongoing change-ability
A fundamental question to ask when encountering a difficulty is: “Is this a problem we can ‘solve,’ or is it an ongoing polarity we must manage well?” If it is a polarity you must manage, applying traditional problem solving skills will increase the problem rather than help it. The Polarity ManagementTM model and set of principles will help you distinguish between Solvable Problems and Polarities and help you effectively manage those polarities most important to your organization’s success.