Polarity ManagementTM
 A Concept Whose Time Has Come
 
In our culture we are "springloaded" to define all difficult situations as problems that can be fixed. If we are only smart enough to find the right answer, the problem will go away. But life's experiences tell us that this approach frequently doesn't work  - some problems never seem to get solved. The truth is, some "problems" are on-going and can never be solved in a traditional sense. These are polarities - situations in which both conflicting points of view are true.
 
  Convert intuitive wisdom into strategic action  

Intuitively, those of you who have "been around the barn a few times" know that:
  • Leaders need to be conservative for stability and revolutionary for change.
      
  • Organizations need centralized coordination and decentralized initiatives
      
  • Managers and employees need training and must do their work.
      
  • We need to support team development and reward individual achievement.
      
  • We need to reduce our costs and improve quality.
      
  • All of us are faced with work commitments and home commitments.
 
 None of the above are problems to solve by choosing one and neglecting the other. They are what we call polarities (dilemmas, paradoxes) which are inherently unavoidable and unsolvable. The on-going, natural tension between the poles can be destructive and debilitating or can be managed, and channeled into a creative synergy that leads to superior outcomes.
  
  Capitalize on Resistance to Change in Support of
Your Change Strategies  

Polarity Management can significantly reduce the cost of overt and covert resistance to your change efforts. A shift in mindset from seeing all difficulties as problems to solve to a mindset that recognizes some difficulties as polarities to manage is the most powerful change readiness intervention available today. With Polarity Management, opposition becomes a valued resource.
  
  Diversity is a Polarity to Manage  

The reason the diversity issue has not been "solved" by even the most highly invested organizations is because diversity is not a problem to solve. Diversity is a series of polarities to manage and some problems to solve. Polarity Management offers relief: you can stop trying to "solve" your diversity issues, and a challenge: you need to learn how to manage the key polarities within diversity
  
  Gain Personal and Organizational Competitive Advantage  

The research is clear. The results are in. Those organizations that intuitively manage polarities well out perform those that don't. The real competitive advantage occurs when leaders move from intuitive wisdom about personal and organizational dilemmas to strategic and tactical application of Polarity Management.
  
  Polarity Management provides organizations with:  

  • An ability to distinguish between problems that are inherently solvable and finite, and those which are both unsolvable and unavoidable.
      
  • Enhanced decision-making through supplementing the problem-solving mind set.
      
  • Reduction of wasted time and money spent in non-productive conflict and decisions that will result in "failed fixes". (The Fifth Discipline, 1990, Peter Senge).
      
  • Reduction of time-to-market with new strategies and new products.
      
  • Competitive Advantage by utilizing the best thinking from opposing viewpoints. (Built To Last, 1994, Collins and Porras).
      
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