Finding Essence in a VUCA-Plus World III: Trust and Polarity Management

Societal Polarity Dynamics

I have focused primarily on dynamics associated with the operation of Trust alongside S²(Home) and O²(Quest) in our personal and interpersonal lives. These dynamics also seem to operate in the much broader political and international spheres. While each era in the life of world affairs is distinctive, there are certain familiar cycles that take place. As Mark Twain indicated, “history never repeats itself, but it does often rhyme”. During the past century we saw the establishment of order and some tranquility in early 20^th Century Germany (under the autocratic rule of Chancellor Bismarck); a similar setting was established during the 1930s (under the despotic rule of Adolph Hitler). Security and Safety were established at the expense of freedom and individual expression.

We find something quite different operating in early 1920s Germany with its Avante Guard expressionism in the arts (portrayed in the writing of Christopher Isherwood and later on Broadway in the musical Cabaret). Following World War II, we see a “new” Germany that is filled eventually with optimism and the reconciliation of East and West Germany (“the wall is torn down!”) O² (Quest) is alive and well. Today, there might be a swing back toward S² (Home) —especially with the challenge of immigration. Similar, though perhaps less dramatic, polarity-based swings seem to have taken place in many other parts of the world during the 20^th Century and are taking place right now (often in disturbing fashion).

In the United States, we see establishment of safe and secure environments prior to World War I—at least for those with power and wealth. We saw a more equalitarian establishment of safe and secure settings after World War II in the establishment of the American suburbs and a “clean” culture saturated with the perfect family (Ozzie and Harriet, Leave It to Beaver) and nostalgia (Gun Smoke and Disney’s main street). At the other end of the 20^th Century swing was the freedom and frivolity of the mid-1920s (the flapper era) as well as the idealism and anarchy of the mid-1970s (the “hippie era”). We swung back and forth, replicating Johnson’s polarity dynamics, and may now be engaged in another mid-21^st Century swing. As I noted in an earlier essay in this series (Bergquist, 2024b) the swing might often be preceded by a rapid oscillation (dither).  This dither might be found in the present-day trembling of our society between two quite different future societies.

A Polarity Analysis

With this preliminary framing and charting completed and with both personal and historical polarities having been presented, we will shift our attention to what happens when we try to maximize the benefits of either polarity. Our force field analysis provided valuable insights and guidance in the identification of the upside and downside of each polarity.