Neither position is “wrong.” “Exquisite truth” is to be found in the positions taken by both camps. The organization is now in the midst of polarization. Uncertainty no longer exists. The opposing perspectives and positions are “painfully” obvious. Fortunately, someone who recognizes this as a polarity can bring both parties to the table. A mutual understanding can be reached regarding the respective benefits and possible negative consequences of holding either position to the exclusion of the other. Once the strengths and risks of the two sides are understood, the dialogue is directed to what happens when we try to maximize the benefits of either side at the expense of the other side.
An additional step is taken. Here is where curiosity gains a foothold. An Essential question is posed: what do both sides have in common? What is the goal, outcomes or value that they both share? If nothing else, this might be just their shared survival or at least finding an end to the swinging back and forth. Usually, however, there is something more than just this lower order shared purpose. In a safe and supportive environment, we can be curious about some higher order purpose—and in this curiosity comes the potential for someone in the midst of the polarity to “discover” or “uncover” this higher-order purpose.
To return to our dancing landscapes, we find (as in the case of dilemmas) that there are multiple mountains to view when we look out over the mid-21st Century landscape. As with dilemmas, the landscape is dancing. However, in the case of polarities there is another force operating that produces the dance. This dynamic is the swinging back and forth between the two contradictory and competing polarities. There is oscillation in the dance—with the dancer twirling around—often to a point of exhaustion or madness.
Back to the mountains. We first decide to climb up to the peak of a nearby mountain. We immediately identify the many challenges we face in seeking to ascend this mountain. So, we turn our attention to the second nearby mountain (which is just as tall). We soon come to recognize that this second mountain has its own obstacles. We stand there uncertain regarding which way to move. We are frozen and stressed. No action is taken and the opportunity to reach either summit is lost. The lost opportunity, in turn, further increases the stress. There is a further negative impact. The frozen condition seriously damages our personal health. We never want to return to this damned mountain range.
In turning our attention from mountain climbing to organizational leadership, we find that an important sign of viability and vitality in a mid-21st Century organization is its capacity to live with uncertainty–and its leaders use of this uncertainty to produce clarity and resolution. Through the use of polarity management, leaders of an organization can engage their organization’s dilemmas, paradoxes and polarities in real time. The dance of oscillation is hard to avoid. However, it can (and must) be anticipated and managed—especially when the issues being faced are Essential to the organization’s functioning. And it is worth keeping in mind that curiosity can arise when we observe other people dancing: “What are they doing and are they enjoying themselves and perhaps even trying to convey something?”
