Barry Johnson

July 2022 - TD Magazine

Maximize the upsides and minimize the downsides of well-being initiatives.

See Well-Being Through a Polarity Lens

Polarities are energy pairs we can leverage to achieve our preferred future faster with greater sustainability. They often show up as tough decisions or tensions: Should we centralize for system integration or decentralize to support entrepreneurial initiative? Should we preserve our core traditions or go after innovation? Also, leadership polarities live within us: Should we be clear or flexible? Should we be grounded or visionary?
With polarities, the answer is that we need both. To be effective with polarities, we need to use “AND” in our thinking. We need to leverage the benefits of centralization AND decentralization. When we use “OR” thinking to “solve” a polarity, we get in trouble. We are less likely to achieve the results we want. If we do get those results, it will be slower than necessary and will not be sustainable.
Polarities are unavoidable, unsolvable, indestructible, and unstoppable. This set of realities could be a bit troublesome except for two other realities of all polarities—they are free and can be leveraged.
In this session, you will learn:
• How to leverage or-thinking and and-thinking
• The five-step: seeing, mapping, assessing, learning, and leveraging
• How to map a polarity using the Polarity Map
• About and experience individual and system level assessment using the Polarity Assessment
 

Leverage Polarities for Career and Leadership Success

Each Month, The Public Manager reviews a recent title that should be on every federal leader’s book shelf. Here’s a look at three top reads.