I have the great honor of serving on the faculty for Georgetown's Institute for Transformational Leadership. Our weekly radio show covers all sorts of juicy topics. This particular episode my friend and colleague, Barry Johnson, and I chatted with Kate Ebner about a very interesting and important topic, Polarity Thinking.
A polarity is often described as a chronic tension, dilemma, or paradox. Polarity Thinking is 'both and thinking'. It is needed in today's world of increasing interdependency and complexity. Leaders must utilize problem solving (either or thinking) as well as 'both and thinking' to address the most challenging of challenges.
The research is clear: leaders, teams, and organizations that leverage polarities well outperform those who don't.