Polarity y Thinking* g Polarity Mapping

NeesaSweet 8472662677
neesasweet@braidedrivergroup.com
*PolarityThinkingandMapscBarryJohnsonandPolarityPartners usedbypermission

WhatarePolarities?
Polaritiesaretwoequallyattractivepossibilities thatexistintensionwitheachothersuchasa part(forexampleabusinessunit)anda whole(forexample,theentireorganization). Overemphasisononepoletotheneglectofthe otherleadstoitsdownsideandeventuallythe upside,thenthedownsideoftheotherpole. If fnotmanaged dwell, ll the h polarity l cycle l is experiencedaswildoscillations,leadingto wastedtimeandresources. Poorly ymanaged g p polaritiesleadorganizations g and individualstocreatethefuturetheyfear.Well managedpolaritieshelpthemcreatethefuture theydesire.

Polarity yThinking g
Organizationsoftenthinktheyhaveaproblemtosolvewhenwhatthey reallyhaveisapolaritytomanage. Polaritiesarevaluesandattributesthatcomeinpairs.Overfocusonone leadstofocusontheother,which,inturn,leadstovacillation,wasted timeandwastedresources.Whatiswantedisthebestofboth. Wheneitheroranswersarentclear,itsbecausethechoicesmayactually bepolarities.
Breathingislikeapolarity: Youcantdecidetodooneortheother. Breathinginleadstobreathingout. Breathingoutleadstobreathingin.

SomeIdentifiedPolarities
Th areM There More! !
Action Be Focused Directive Decisions Build Relationship Care For My Business Unit Care Of Customers Centralized Change Clarity Coaching Culture Collaboration Tight P Part Common Sense Competitive Creativity Customer Service y Efficiency Initiator Innovation Interdependence Long Term Mission R t i E Retain Employees l Short-term Supportive Management Tradition Traditionalist Debate Hang Loose Participative Decisions Get The Job Done Care For Whole Company Care Of Organization Decentralized Stability Flexibility Directive Culture Competition Loose Wh l Whole Facts Collaborative Standardization Service To Organization Quality Q y Follower Tradition Self-reliance Short Term Margin Hi N Hire New Talent T l t Long-term Evaluative Management Innovation Change Agent

Polaritiesareinterdependentpairs.Neitheris intrinsically ybetterorworsethantheother. Overfocusononeleadstotheother. Peopledescribepolaritiesinlanguagethatis meaningfultothem,sodifferentsetsofwords mightdescribesimilarpolarities. Somegeneralized S li dpolarity l i d descriptions, i i suchaspartwholeortightloosemay alsodescribemorespecificsituationssuch asbusinessunittheoverallorganizationor directiveleadercollaborativeenvironment.

Applications pp ofPolarity yThinking g

StrategicPlanning ManagingUnsolvableProblems Assessment Performance Collaboration Alignment Negotiation TeamDiscussions SurfacingHiddenIssues UncoveringHiddenAttitudes g TeamandIndividualCoaching Mediation
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ThePolarityMap
Howwillwegainor Howwillwegainor maintainthepositive maintainthepositive resultsfromfocusing resultsfromfocusing onthispole?What? onthisleftpole? Who?Bywhen? What?Who?By Measures? when?Measures?

GreaterPurpose WhyBalancethePolarity?
Howwillwegainor maintainthepositive resultsfromfocusing onthispole?What? Who?Bywhen? Measures?

Upsideof rightpole

Upsideof leftpole

Rightpole
Measurableindicators thatwillletyouknow thatyouaregetting intothedownsideof thispole. pole

Leftpole
Measurableindicators thatwillletyouknow thatyouaregetting intothedownsideof thispole pole.

Downside ofrightpole

Downside ofleftpole

DeeperFearfromlackofbalance

PolarityMapsaregraphictoolsthatshowtheupsidesanddownsidesofpairs,warningsignsof overfocusoneitherpole,andpotentialactionstepstobalancethepolarityandreachdesired goals. Travelthroughtheupsidesanddownsidesofeachpoleisrepresentedbytheinfinityloop.

Managing g gPolarity yPairs

UpsideofX

UpsideofY

Theinfinitylooptraces howwellthepolarity pairisbeingmanaged. Normalflowisfrom thedownsideofone poletotheupsideof theother.

X
DownsideofX

Y
DownsideofY

Inawellmanagedpolarity,attentionispaidtobothpolesandmaximumtimeisspent intheupsidesofthepoles.Balanced,moreprofitablecircumstances,areexperienced thaninthewildlyswingingoscillationsthatcomewithneglectingonepoleortheother andthusspendingmoretimeinthedownsidesofthepoles. Actionstepsandearlywarningsignsareusedtohelpmanagepolarities.

Polarity yMapping pp gFacilitatesDiscussion

PolarityMapscanbeusedtofacilitatediscussions aboutstrategy,performanceandother issues. Thepowerofthemapscomesfromtheirabilityto surfaceissuesandtensions, tensions todosoinaway thathonorsthevalidityofdifferentwaysof approachingsituations,andthatbuildsin mechanismsforbothactionandreflection. Mapscanbedrawninformallyonflipchartsand filledinbyafacilitatorasexecutivesorother groupstalkabouttheirsituations. Theycanbecreatedmoreformallyincomputer templates.Thereisalsoacomputerized assessmenttool tool. Oncepeopleunderstandtheconceptof polaritiestheybegintoseeinterconnected pairsinmanyfacetsoftheirwork.Theyare abletousetheseinsightstoclarifyand address dd important i issues, i tomake k b better decisionsandtotakemoredecisiveaction.

Inafacilitateddiscussionwithkey stakeholders: sta e o de s:

1. 2. 3. Definethedifficultyordifficulties Determinerelevantpolarities Buildthepolaritymap:
a. b. c c. d. e. f. g. Fillinthehigherpurposeanddeeperfear Fillintheupsideoftheleftpole. Fillinthedownside downsideoftheleftpole pole. Fillintheupsideoftherightpole. Fillinthedownsideoftherightpole. Fillinthewarningsigns Fillintheactionsteps

4. 5. 6.

Foreachquadrant,imaginebeinginthe organizationthislistdescribes Determinetheinfinitylooppath Assessanddetermineaction

Polarity yMap pExample: p Continuity yandChange g

Infinity yLoop pLetsYouTrackHowPolarity yisManaged g

WellBalancedPolarity ReadyfortheFuture

TooMuchTimeinDownsides FallingBehind

UnbalancedPolarity MissingAdvantagesofChange

UnbalancedPolarity WillSoonStarttoExperiencethe DownsideofChange

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Getting gUnstuck
ThePolarityMapcanhelpanorganization orgroupgetunstuck. Thenormalflowfromthedownsideofthe leftpoleistotheupsideoftherightpole. Sometimes,though,thereisconsiderable resistancetodoingso.Thenormal movementiseffectivelyblocked.Theway outistoreversetheflow. Tohelppeoplegetunstuck, unstuck ,changethe pathoftheinfinityloop.Insteadoftrying togodirectlytotheupsideoftherightpole whenpeopleresist,visitthequadrantsas below.Imaginebeing 1. first,intheupsideoftheleft pole 2. thentakethebridgetothe downsideoftherightpole 3. gototheupsideoftherightpole 4. gototheupsideoftheleftpole 5. finally,revisitthehigherpurpose

Well managed normal flow

1 4

5
Blocked pathway

Stuck

3
Reversing theflow

2
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Polarity yMap pExample: p ShortTermandLong gTermFocus

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Polarity yMap pExample: p BusinessUnitandCompany p y

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

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PolarityMapExampleInformationSharingandInformation Security

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ThankYou

NeesaSweet
8472662677
Certified Consultant

neesasweet@braidedrivergroup.com

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