Polarity Management™: Identifying and Managing Unsolvable Problems

Table of contents

1. Polarity Management™: Identifying and Managing Unsolvable Problems
   1. Copyright
   2. Dedication
   3. Polarity Management™ Associates: Our Deeper Purpose
      1. Purpose Number 1
      2. Purpose Number 2
   4. Polarity Management Products and Services
   5. Acknowledgments
   6. About the Author
   7. Introduction
      1. Current Trends are Polarities to Manage
      2. Polarity Management Skills Will Make You a More Effective Leader
   8. Chapter 1: Teamwork Is Not a Solution
      1. A Workshop That Included Team Building
      2. Polarity Management
      3. Back at the Workshop (1/2)
      4. Back at the Workshop (2/2)
      5. Polarity “Two-Step”
      6. Summary
      7. Exercise
   9. Chapter 2: Breathing New Life into Your Organization
      1. Breathing Is a Polarity Management Process
      2. Summary
      3. Exercise
   10. Chapter 3: The Misunderstood Leader
       1. Should a Leader Be Clear or Flexible? Yes.
       2. Seeing the Whole Picture
       3. The Misunderstood Leader
       4. Summary
       5. Exercise
   11. Chapter 4: Being “Right” Is the Easy Step
       1. Accuracy and Completeness
       2. Letting Go to Get More
       3. Self-Empowerment and Control
       4. Summary
       5. Exercise
   12. Chapter 5: Crusading and Tradition Bearing
       1. Crusading and Tradition-Bearing Forces at Odds in the “Individual/Team” Dilemma
       2. The Crusading Force
       3. The Tradition-Bearing Force
       4. Crusading
       5. Ineffective Crusading
       6. Effective Crusading
       7. Effective Tradition Bearing
       8. Summary
       9. Exercise
   13. Chapter 6: A Problem to Solve or a Polarity to Manage?
       1. Why Ask?
       2. How Do You Know If You Have a Polarity to Manage?
       3. The Criteria Questions
       4. Polarities to Manage
       5. Problems to Solve (1/2)
       6. Problems to Solve (2/2)
       7. Summary
       8. Exercise
   14. Chapter 7: How to Recognize a Well-Managed Polarity When You See One
       1. Managing a Polarity Well
       2. Individual Responsibility and Organization Responsibility
       3. The Individual Responsibility Pole
       4. The Organization Responsibility Pole
       5. Managing Polarities Effectively
       6. Well-Managed Polarity
       7. Poorly Managed Polarities
       8. The “Downside to Downside” Story
       9. The “Stuck in One Downside” Story
       10. Summary
       11. Exercise
   15. Chapter 8: Two Departments in Conflict
       1. Working with Key Polarities Underlying Multiple Issue Conflicts
       2. The Invitation
       3. The Planning Meeting
       4. Small Groups Dealing with the Issues
       5. Summary
       6. Exercise
   16. Chapter 9: Action Steps
       1. From Theory to Application
       2. Three Polarity Pitfalls
       3. Summary
       4. Exercise
       5. Conclusion
   17. Supplement
       1. Outline and Section Summaries
   18. Section A: An Owner and a Manager Struggling with Change
       1. Crusading for “Change”
       2. Does This Owner Want Change or Not?
       3. The One Pole Myth
       4. What to Do?
       5. Summary
       6. Exercise
       7. Assignment:*
   19. Section B: Tough/Love in the Workplace
       1. Tough Love
       2. Conditional Respect (Doing) and Unconditional Respect (Being)
       3. The Upside of Conditional Respect (L+): People Respected for What They Do
       4. The Upside of Unconditional Respect (R+): People Respected for Who They Are
       5. The Downside of Conditional Respect (L–): People Are Simply a Means to Organization Profits
       6. The Downside of Unconditional Respect (R–): People Lack Accountability for What They Do
       7. Why Not Celebrate What We Do and Who We Are?
       8. Summary
       9. Exercise
   20. Section C: How Participatory Management Gets into Trouble
       1. Two Management Trends
       2. Autocratic/Participatory
       3. Centralized Decisions and Decentralized Decisions
       4. The Decision Continuum
       5. Pushing Decisions Down
       6. Pushing Decisions Out (1/2)
       7. Pushing Decisions Out (2/2)
       8. Summary
       9. Exercise
   21. Section D: The Joys of Stress and Tranquility
       1. The Joys of Stress and Tranquility (1/2)
       2. The Joys of Stress and Tranquility (2/2)
       3. Summary
       4. Exercise
   22. Section E: Generic Polarities
       1. Generic and Sister Polarities
       2. Part/Whole
       3. The Four Quadrants of Part/Whole
       4. Uniqueness and Connectedness Are a Given
       5. Expanding the Quadrants
       6. Self/Other
       7. Special Note
       8. Summary
       9. Exercise
   23. Section F: Values: The Art and Science of Polarity Management
       1. Value-Bound Structure and Value-Free Dynamics (1/2)
       2. Value-Bound Structure and Value-Free Dynamics (2/2)
       3. Structure Is Value Bound
       4. Dynamics Are Value Free
       5. Building Common Ground
       6. Some See It as a Problem to Solve
       7. The Merged Pole Myth
       8. Summary
       9. Summary and Review Exercise
       10. Exercise
       11. Well or Poorly Managed
   24. Section G: Capitalism and Socialism: Neither a “Solution,” Neither a “Mistake”
       1. Individual and Community
       2. Trends in Business and Industry
       3. The Crusade toward Freedom and Uniqueness
       4. The Crusade toward Equality and Connectedness
       5. The Inability of Crusaders to See the Whole Dilemma
       6. The Inability of Tradition Bearers to See the Whole Dilemma
       7. Summary
   25. Appendix: Polarities Lists (1/2)
   26. Appendix: Polarities Lists (2/2)
   27. Resources
       1. Additional Resources
       2. Polarity Management Associates