Navigating Polarities: The Power of “AND”
“Difference must be not merely tolerated, but seen as a fund of necessary polarities between which our creativity can spark like a dialectic. Only then does the necessity for interdependency become unthreatening. Only within that interdependency of different strengths, acknowledged and equal, can the power to seek new ways of being in the world generate, as well as the courage and sustenance to act where there are no charters.” Audre Lorde
I’d like to offer up an experiment. Take a moment and say to yourself “environment OR economy.” Now say to yourself “environment AND economy.” What was the difference? Typically, when I do this experiment with teams that I work with, the second version opens up the possibility of more than one answer, more than one direction, more than one perspective. That ability to hold multiple perspectives and experience seemingly unresolvable tensions as interdependent pairs may be one of the most powerful tools we have in navigating an increasingly complex and polarized world.
Working with “and” in this way is the domain of polarity management, perhaps the single most important tool in my professional and personal toolkit. Barry Johnson first introduced polarity management in the 1970s. His book, Polarity Management: Identifying and Managing Unsolvable Problems introduced this body of work. More recently, Brian Emerson and Kelly Lewis’ Navigating Polarities: Using Both/And Thinking to Lead Transformation builds on and extends Johnson’s work and provides an updated methodology for working with polarities to inform personal and organizational transformation. (Brian offers a short introduction to Polarities in this video—I highly recommend taking three minutes to listen either now or when you finish reading this post. You can also hear me talk about polarities on the Modern Manager podcast. Here’s the link. )*
At its core, managing or navigating polarities is about the shift from “either/or” to “both/and” thinking. As Johnson explains, “Polarities to manage are sets of opposites that can’t function well independently. Because the two sides of a polarity are interdependent, you cannot choose one as a ‘solution’ and neglect the other. The objective of the polarity management perspective is to get the best of both opposites while avoiding the limits of each.”
For example: Many organizations swing between centralization and decentralization—one of the two being seen as “the problem.” What if we stopped and asked, “How do we bring to bear the value of centralization and the value of decentralization? What are the benefits of each that we want to be sure we embrace and what are the downsides of each that we want to avoid by over-focusing on one pole?” We can stop the pendulum swing from pole to pole and create a more sustainable way to think about our organizations.
Keep in mind that we’re not looking for a perfect balance. We’re managing two dynamic poles that are often shifting and are both relevant and important. And, typically, each of us will have an initial preference, strong or subtle, for one of the poles. That preference can get in the way of our seeing the benefits of the other pole. Emerson and Kelly propose that we seek out a “transformational third way” that allows us to name a new relationship to the tension that is created by tapping into the benefits of both.
Let’s take a personal example, one that is close to my heart and that of many other women leaders I work with. Humility and confidence. For reasons that probably lie deep in my childhood, it was hard for me not see it as one or the other. When I felt myself becoming “too” confident, I began to fear that I wasn’t humble enough; entering the territory of arrogance was something I was taught was simply wrong—rising to the level of a cardinal sin. So, I would swing back to a version of humility that left me unable to access the confidence that I needed to thrive in my work and in building my business. Today, when I sense that I’m shifting towards the overuse of one of these poles, I am (usually) able to catch myself and self-correct. Working with humility AND confidence, over time, has allowed me to see that these are not mutually exclusive, but, actually need each other—together they allow me to be a healthier person, more comfortable in my own skin.
Polarities are a powerful tool in helping us get unstuck when we face personal and professional challenges. When things are out of sync, there is often a tension lurking that, when named as a polarity, can allow us to find a new way of relating to the world. Once named and understood, we can work on maximizing both poles, rather than running from one to another. We can see what we are missing out on by over-indexing our preferred pole. Attention to work and attention to family, creating more structure and remaining flexible, listening and advocating for our positions. Similarly, organizations can often address challenges and conflicts by naming the polarities in play. Naming polarities such as growth and profit, maintaining a short-term and long-term focus, reducing cost and improving quality can open up new conversations, new strategies and a new source of sustainable competitive advantage. In the words of Barry Johnson: “There is a natural tension between the two poles of a polarity. If you treat a polarity as if it were a problem to solve, this natural tension becomes a vicious cycle leading to unnecessary dysfunction, pain and suffering. However, if you can see that an issue is a polarity, you can leverage that natural tension with and thinking so it becomes a virtuous cycle lifting you and your organization to goals unattainable with or thinking alone.”
Working with Polarities, both individually and organizationally, opens up new possibilities and pathways. The next time you feel challenged and frustrated, take a step back and ask yourself if what you or your organization is facing is a problem to be solved, or a polarity to be managed. If it’s the latter, a polarity perspective offers a new way to tackle a seemingly impossible issue.
* Note: Kelly and Emerson’ process for mapping polarities provides a roadmap to effectively leveraging the power of both/and. You can find that map on the Andiron resource page.
