Polarities (paradoxes and dilemmas) have been the grist of human awareness and study for more than 5,000 years. Despite efforts to reduce problems and solutions to simple either/or configurations, the authors assert that the need for both/and, polarity thinking is necessary to maximize successful transitions. Freeman (2004) states that learning and actively using both/and, polarity thinking approaches, that intentionally identify polarities in play and use that awareness to understand and plan, alongside either/or thinking approaches would have a significant, positive impact on leaders as individuals and their team as a collective, in general, and especially during high stress transitional processes.
Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary defines “polarity” as “the quality or condition inherent in a body that exhibits opposite properties or powers in opposite parts or directions or that exhibits contrasted properties or powers in contrasted parts or directions” (p. 909). It defines “paradox” as “something (as a person, condition or act) with seemingly contradictory qualities or phases” (p. 853). Finally, the dictionary defines “dilemma” as “an argument presenting two or more equally conclusive alternatives” (p. 355). This article will focus on what Barry Johnson (1996), thought leader and creator of The Polarity MapÒ and principles, refers to as “managing unsolvable problems”, which inherently embody what is variously referred to as polarity, paradox, or dilemma. For simplicity, the authors will use the word “polarity”.
To make polarities in organizations (and in life generally) more understandable, Johnson (1996) distinguishes between what he calls problems to solve and polarities to leverage. Problems to solve, according to Johnson (1996), are those that present clear-cut, either/or choices within a known, limited time horizon. The choices are mutually exclusive and do not interpenetrate in any way. Polarities to leverage are found in those circumstances where both options, although opposite in character, contribute to an inseparable whole. Polarities, by their nature, present problems that are not resolvable simply by researching and analyzing the two presented options and taking the “correct” action.
