polarity thinking overview

7/30/2019 Polarity Thinking Overview

1/15

Polarit Thinkin *

Polarity Mapping

NeesaSweet

[email protected]

*PolarityThinkingandMapscBarryJohnsonandPolarityPartners usedbypermission


2/15

Polaritiesaretwoequallyattractivepossibilitiesthatexistintensionwitheachothersuchasapart(forexampleabusinessunit)andawhole(forexample,theentireorganization).Overemphasisononepoletotheneglectoftheotherleadstoitsdownsideandeventuallytheupside,

then

the

downside

of

the

other

pole.

I

fnotmanagedwell,thepolaritycycleisexperiencedaswildoscillations,leadingtowastedtimeandresources.Poorl mana ed olaritiesleador anizationsandindividualstocreatethefuturetheyfear. Wellmanagedpolaritieshelpthemcreatethefuturetheydesire.

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3/15

Polarit

Thinkin

Organizationsoftenthinktheyhaveaproblemtosolvewhenwhatthey

reallyhave

is

apolarity

to

manage.

Polaritiesarevaluesandattributesthatcomeinpairs. Overfocusonone

leadstofocusontheother,which,inturn,leadstovacillation,wasted

timeandwastedresources. Whatiswantedisthebestofboth.

Wheneither

or

answers

arent

clear,

its

because

the

choices

may

actually

bepolarities.

Breathin is like a olarit :

Youcant

decide

to

do

one

or

the

other.

Breathinginleadstobreathingout.

Breathingoutleadstobreathingin.

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4/15

SomeIdentifiedPolaritiesereare ore

Action Debate

Be Focused Hang Loose

Directive Decisions Participative Decisions

Build Relationship Get The Job Done

Care For My Business Unit Care For Whole Company

Care Of Customers Care Of OrganizationPolaritiesareinterdependentpairs. Neitheris

intrinsicallybetterorworsethantheother.

Change Stability

Clarity Flexibility

Coaching Culture Directive Culture

Collaboration CompetitionTight Loose

Overfocusononeleadstotheother.

Peopledescribepolaritiesinlanguagethatis

meaningfultothem,sodifferentsetsofwords

mightdescribe

similar

polarities.

art o e

Common Sense Facts

Competitive Collaborative

Creativity Standardization

Customer Service Service To Organization

Efficienc Qualit

Somegenera ze po ar ty escr pt ons,

suchaspartwholeortightloosemay

alsodescribemorespecificsituationssuch

asbusinessunittheoverallorganizationor

directiveleadercollaborativeenvironment.

Initiator FollowerInnovation Tradition

Interdependence Self-reliance

Long Term Short Term

Mission Margin

eta n mp oyees re ew a ent

Short-term Long-term

Supportive Management Evaluative Management

Tradition Innovation

Traditionalist Change Agent4


5/15

A licationsof

Polarit

Thinkin

StrategicPlanning

ManagingUnsolvableProblems

Assessment

Performance

Collaboration

Negotiation

TeamDiscussions

SurfacingHidden

Issues

UncoveringHiddenAttitudes

TeamandIndividualCoachin

Mediation

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6/15

ThePolarityMapGreaterPurpose

WhyBalancethePolarity?

Howwillwegainor

maintainthepositive

resultsfromfocusing

onthisleftpole?

Howwillwegainor

maintainthepositive

resultsfromfocusing

onthispole?What?

Howwillwegainor

maintainthepositive

resultsfromfocusing

onthispole?What?

Upsideof

rightpoleUpside

of

leftpole

What?Who?By

when?Measures?

Measures?Who?Bywhen?

Measures?

DownsideDownside

Measurableindicators

thatwillletyouknow

thatyou

are

getting

intothedownsideof

this ole

Right pole Leftpole

Measurableindicators

thatwillletyouknow

thatyou

are

getting

intothedownsideof

DeeperFearfromlackofbalance

. .

PolarityMapsaregraphictoolsthatshowtheupsidesanddownsidesofpairs,warningsignsof

overfocusoneitherpole,andpotentialactionstepstobalancethepolarityandreachdesired

goals.

Travelthroughtheupsidesanddownsidesofeachpoleisrepresentedbytheinfinityloop.

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7/15

Mana in

Polarit

Pairs

Theinfinitylooptraces

UpsideofX UpsideofY

pairisbeingmanaged.

Normalflowisfrom

thedownside

of

one

poletotheupsideof

theother.

X Y

Inawellmanagedpolarity,attentionispaidtobothpolesandmaximumtimeisspent

intheupsidesofthepoles. Balanced,moreprofitablecircumstances,areexperienced

andthusspendingmoretimeinthedownsidesofthepoles.

Actionsteps

and

early

warning

signs

are

used

to

help

manage

polarities.


8/15

Polarit

Ma in

FacilitatesDiscussion

PolarityMapscanbeusedtofacilitatediscussions

aboutstrategy,

performance

and

other

issues.

Thepowerofthemapscomesfromtheirabilityto Inafacilitateddiscussionwithkey

stakeholders: ,

thathonorsthevalidityofdifferentwaysofapproachingsituations,andthatbuildsinmechanismsforbothactionandreflection.

Mapscanbedrawninformallyonflipchartsand

1. Definethedifficultyordifficulties

2. Determinerelevantpolarities

3. Buildthepolaritymap:

a. Fill

in

the

higher

purpose

and

deeper

fearb. Fillintheupsideoftheleftpole.

filledinbyafacilitatorasexecutivesorothergroupstalkabouttheirsituations.

Theycanbecreatedmoreformallyincomputertemplates. Thereisalsoacomputerized

. .

d. Fillintheupsideoftherightpole.

e. Fillinthedownsideoftherightpole.

f. Fillinthewarningsigns

g. Fillintheactionsteps

4. Foreachquadrant,imaginebeinginthe

.

Oncepeople

understand

the

concept

of

polaritiestheybegintoseeinterconnectedpairsinmanyfacetsoftheirwork. Theyareabletousetheseinsightstoclarifyand

5. Determinethe

infinity

loop

path

6. Assessanddetermineaction

a ressimportantissues,toma e etterdecisionsandtotakemoredecisiveaction.

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9/15

Polarity

Map

Example:

Continuity

and

Change

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10/15

Infinity

Loop

Lets

You

Track

How

Polarity

is

Managed

TooMuchTimeinDownsides

ReadyfortheFutureFallingBehind

10

UnbalancedPolarity

WillSoon

Start

to

Experience

the

DownsideofChangeUnbalanced

PolarityMissingAdvantagesofChange


11/15

Gettin

Unstuck

ThePolarityMapcanhelpanorganization

orgroupgetunstuck.

Thenormalflowfromthedownsideofthe

leftpoleistotheupsideoftherightpole.

Well

managed

normal

flow

Sometimes,though,thereisconsiderable

resistancetodoingso. Thenormal

movementiseffectivelyblocked. Theway

outistoreversetheflow.

To hel eo le et unstuck chan e the

pathoftheinfinityloop. Insteadoftrying

togodirectlytotheupsideoftherightpole

whenpeopleresist,visitthequadrantsas

below. Imaginebeing

1. first,intheupsideoftheleftStuck

Blocked1

5

2. thentake

the

bridge

to

the

downsideoftherightpole

3. gototheupsideoftherightpole

4. gototheupsideoftheleftpole

5. finally,revisitthehigherpurpose

Reversing

theflow

pathway4 3

11

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12/15

Polarity

Map

Example:

Short

Term

and

Long

Term

Focus

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13/15

Polarity

Map

Example:

Business

Unit

and

Company

13* Thanks to John Scherer, Center for Work and the Human Spirit** Thanks to The Strategy Academy, Rotterdam, The Netherlands*** Thanks to Todd Johnson, RivertownConsultants


14/15

PolarityMapExampleInformationSharingandInformation

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15/15

Thank

You

NeesaSweet

[email protected]

15

Certified Consultant

polarity thinking overview

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