Polarity Management
When you encounter a situation that has the characteristics that can be solved both ways then you are most likely encountering A Polarity to Manage vs. a Problem to Solve.
Polarity maps provide the context for effectively addressing "unsolvable problems". They provide leaders with the insight and methodology to effectively manage the most important issues in organizations today.
Polarity Systems Thinking Overview - links to the document below
Polarity Management - internet resource
Tool: Polarity Map
If it is a problem you are trying to solve, do not use this process
When should I use this tool? Many of the issues leaders face are not problems to be solved; they are paradoxes to be balanced. A paradox is a seemingly contradictory situation that is nevertheless true. A paradox contains elements that appear to be mutually exclusive and that appear to operate at the same time. Some leadership problems can be addressed with "either/or" thinking, but paradoxes must be addressed with "both/and" thinking. When you experience that, "damned if I do, damned if I don't" feeling, you have encountered a paradox. Common leadership paradoxes include the following:
• Focus on the individual; focus on the team
• Take short term profits; invest in the long term
• Centralize/decentralize the organization
• Ensure the success of your department; ensure the success of the company
The Polarity Map tool is especially helpful in deciding whether the issue to be addressed is a problem to be solved or a paradox to be balanced. Further, this tool is helpful in understanding the nature of the paradox and how to address it. Use this tool when you want
• To provide an alternative, more successful, approach to dealing with difficult and ambiguous situations
• To encourage everyone involved to take a broad perspective on difficult situations
Why is using this tool important? No matter how convincing your case for change, some people will disagree with your direction or your leadership. Additionally, significant change generally brings with it a number of difficult or ambiguous situations that are troublesome to deal with. When the going gets tough, don’t throw up your hands in despair or defeat. You can use the Polarity Map tool.
A paradox is not a problem. When you use problem-solving techniques on a paradox, you will probably
• Revisit issues often and experience little progress
• Create more problems than you solve
• Let disappointments turn into character assassinations
• Eat up huge chunks of time and feel that you are getting nowhere
Every leader encounters paradox. Knowing and understanding the cycle of a paradox enables you to curb your use of negative energy and survive.
Tell me more about this tool The Polarity Map is uniquely suited for thinking through paradox and seeing the big picture that is behind it. Here are a few important points about paradoxes:
• Paradoxes exist at the organization, role, and personal levels
• Paradoxes consist of two opposing perspectives, or polarities.
• Each of the polarities, at some time (past, present, or future) is both beneficial and problematic.
• Whenever they have positioned their thinking at either end of a paradox, people are likely to strongly defend the correctness of their opinions.
Tool: Polarity Map
How do I proceed? There are four steps in the process that leads to balancing a paradox.
Step 1. Describe the issue
If you have experienced an issue that has been difficult to resolve, bring the various parties together. Encourage people to tell their “stories” about the struggle that is taking place. If two people “see” the same issue differently, wonderful! Ask the group to pay particular attention to both sides and the efforts that have been made and have failed to resolve the issue.
Step 2. Determine whether the issue is a problem to be solved or a paradox to be balanced
How you address a paradox is different from how you solve a problem. Therefore, you have to differentiate the two. You are addressing a paradox if
• The issue is recurring
• Efforts at solution result in more problems
• Both sides of the issue are critical for long-term success
• People fail to recognize the importance of the other side
When all four conditions prevail, you have a paradox to balance. Do not try to use standard problem-solving methods to resolve it!
Figure PM1. Model of a Polarity Map
Step 3. Describe the paradox by creating a Polarity Map
A Polarity Map (see Figure PM1) shows you how a paradox cycles from one polarity to the other over time. To develop a Polarity Map, use two flip charts side by side or create an empty Polarity Map on the floor using masking tape. The procedure for filling in the model is as follows:
1 Discover what circumstance people are afraid of and want to avoid, and place that information in the bottom middle of the map.
2 Discover what circumstance people desire and want to achieve, and place that information in the upper middle of the map
3 Name the two ends of the paradox. These are the polarities. Place their names at either end of the horizontal line.
4 In box 1, list the negative aspects of the left-side polarity
5 In box 2, list the positive aspects of the left-side polarity
6 In box 3, list the positive aspects of the right-side polarity
7 In box 4, list the negative aspects of the right-side polarity.
Step 4. Determine how to balance the paradox
In the final step, the leader and the planning group determine how they will actively manage the polarity to achieve the result they intend. They complete the balancing-polarity graphic in Figure PM2.
Figure PM2. Model for balancing the polarities
The group addresses the following questions and records their responses in the appropriate areas of a flipchart on which the Balancing Polarities graphic has been drawn (see Figure PM2).
• Where are we currently positioned on the positive half of the continuum that includes both ends of the polarity?
• What do we need to do to achieve the positive results we desire, and how will we manage the positive aspects of both ends of the polarity?
• Who will do what, by when?
• What do we need to do to avoid the negative aspects of both ends of the polarity? What red-flag indicators will show us that we are moving too far toward what we don’t want? Who will recognize the red flags? What will we do then?
Hints and troubleshooting tips 1 Involve people with various perspectives in this process. By including people who favor both sides of the issue, the leader builds deeper understanding and greater commitment to the action plan. When dealing with paradox, those who represent opposing perspectives are especially helpful to balance it in the longer-term.
2 Properly categorize the issue as a problem or a paradox. Treating a problem as a paradox or a paradox as a problem creates greater difficulties.
3 Establish a clear understanding of what we want and what we wish to avoid. This is a helpful way to encourage people with different perspectives to develop a better understanding of the larger goal. They will realize that they desire similar outcomes and that the means for achieving them is the source of conflict.
4 Naming the two polarities can be a more difficult task than it first appears. Both ends should have positive connotations and not be the names of a department or function.
5 In periods of change, two factions are likely to evolve: (1) the crusaders who champion the change and (2) the bearers of tradition who want to maintain the current arrangement. Involving both factions in Polarity Mapping minimizes the risk of failure and avoids the negative win/lose outcome.
6 The purpose of balancing a paradox is to achieve the best aspects of both polarities. If one polarity begins to dominate, red flags must be raised to avoid that polarity’s downside consequences.
7 For a powerful team-building exercise, create a large, blank Polarity Map on the floor (use masking tape). Elicit from the participants the characteristics of each quadrant of the polarity map. Write their responses on 4 separate flipchart sheets. Place the sheets on the appropriate quadrants on blank map. Invite the participants to act out the polarity. By playing out the negative aspects of the polarities in an exercise, the group will save the money, stress, and time of playing them out in real life.