Many writers now say we’re in code blue, and we need a blueprint to revive American Democracy. In his Washington Post August 4th review of two books Carlos Lazoda highlights how in the weeks after Donald Trump’s inauguration, the muse of the death-of-democracy bookshelf began expanding – and not focused exclusively on Trump. He says, [...]
In 1967, C. West Churchman highlighted some key factors of unsolvable challenges. He referred to them as “Wicked Problems,” which are: 1) Unsolvable by rational analysis, 2) Systems issues, and 3) Require collective engagement for learning the way to solutions. Another important voice in the solvability discernment arena is Ron Heifetz, who made the clear [...]
If you’re not familiar with the Tao Te Ching (see description at the end of this note), here’s a sample -- Chapter 39 -- from Cliff’sNOTES on the Tao Te Ching (unpublished). It’s a description of what happens when we’re out of sync with the “Way” or “It” as I refer to the Way: When [...]
Ancient wisdom and so salient for today. Halakha (or Halachah) represents the strength to shape one's life according to a fixed pattern; it is a form-giving force. Aggadah is the expression of human kind’s ceaseless striving, which often defies all limitations. Robert Cover, a twentieth century Yale Law School professor wrote in Nomos and Narrative, [...]
They are interdependent pairs that need each other over time and energy systems in which we live in and which live in us. Polarities have been important in history and in our lives. Polarities go by different names: Paradox, Dilemma, Tensions, etc. Leaders, teams, and organizations that leverage polarities well outperform those who don’t. Each [...]
Summary of “Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for A Complex World” by retired Army General Stanley McChrystal “If there is a single key point that stands head and shoulders above the rest in my mind, it is this: The never-ending quest for efficiency must give way to a tireless effort to ensure adaptability…” [...]
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 [...]
Success today and in the future requires critical distinctions be made in the type of thinking that’s needed for challenges and opportunities. One type of thinking addresses complicated and solvable technical problems using “either/or.” Another type of thinking addresses complexity for technically unsolvable adaptive “polarity” challenges using “both/and.” Polarities are interdependent pairs that all leaders, [...]
Advocating for “Both/And” thinking as a replacement for “Either/Or” thinking. Example: “We need to get away from ‘Either/Or’ thinking and use ‘Both/And’. “ Using “verses” as a conjunction for the two poles instead of “and”. Example: “We’ve got a polarity of Structure versus Flexibility.” Describing the two poles of a polarity in a negative-to-positive, with [...]
As awareness of polarities increases, so does the awareness of multarities. The question about multiple poles comes up frequently in our PACT (Polarity Approach for Continuity and Transformation) Foundations and Professional Applications Certification training. Often, it’s from people who have deep subject matter expertise in a particular area. When they learn about polarities seeing the [...]