And: Making a Difference by Leveraging Polarity, Paradox or Dilemma (Polarity Partnerships)

If you are distressed by the current state of our country--apparently unresolvable diffierences, a completely dysfunctional Congress, lack of civility, blue state vs red state, etc, Barry Johnson in this book offers a ray of hope. It's a ray of hope that rests on the belief that we are all people of good will.The way out starts with acknowledging that polarities (situations comprised of competing values) exist and that either/or thinking can never resolve them. The way out involves honest dialogue in which we strive to understand the values that drive our "opposites" and genuinely respect the differences. By thinking "and" instead of either/or we invite a different level of conversation at any level. Corporately this plays out in the perennial centralize/decentralize polarity. Nationally its playing out in the polarity of nationalism/globalism. Johnson even ventures into the ever-dangerous waters of pro-Trump/anti-Trump.His acronym for working through polarities is SMALL. See things whole. Map the situation (he teaches the process in the book). Assess it, learn about it and from it. Finallly, leverage it by acting.

Kudos to Barry Johnson and the team at Polarity Partnerships for the latest book “And: Making a Difference by Leveraging Polarity, Paradox or Dilemma Volume One: Foundations”. The book “And…” is written in a method that should be appealing to anyone, whether a long-time master of leveraging polarities or a beginner looking for a method to lead through diversity.Many of us are taught almost from birth to “walk a mile in another’s shoes”, yet more individuals than need be forget this lesson when interacting with fellow humans. Seeing the positives (upsides) of “the other side” is key to arriving at “both/and” thinking rather than depending on “either/or”. While some decisions are absolute “Or” (one or the other), a polarity mindset assists in an understanding of the situation that leads to leveraging opposing values in a more successful and balanced approach.I highly recommend this book and look forward to Volume 2.

I was recently re-energized on the value of Polarity Management with the recent release of ‘And’ the latest book on the topic by the expert Barry Johnson and team, to include Cliff Kayser.I started reading it, and then gave my copy to my boss. I ordered another copy, and gave that away. I then had our staff order 15 copies for our Board of Directors. I strongly recommend the book and associated material.We are so often part of sub-optimizing ‘Or’ choices in problem solving when we would instead benefit more greatly from leveraging the value of both.It is relevant to so many current strategic topics...Focus on near-term delivery AND long term research.Operate as an Enterprise AND enable autonomy.Fill immediate vacancies AND build long term talent pools.AND of course...Working hard being connected AND taking breaks and disconnecting.

Being a longtime fan of Polarity Thinking, _And_ reinforced the emergency need for “both/and” thinking. With the Pandemic, BLM Movement, political conflagrations and economic crises demanding our attention, _And_ demonstrates a system that is elegantly simple in its practice, and profound in its impact. As we progress through this decade of existential decisions, polarity thinking could be the tool that unites us. We are better together - and together, we can bridge and link our differences. Let _And_ change your life. Become a proponent of both/and thinking, and solve the seeming dilemmas of our time.Bob Riley, both Business Owner and Community Volunteer-Philanthropist

Barry's Johnson's new book, And, is both timely and important.Polarity thinking is such a useful theory that once you learn the concepts, you will notice polarities wherever you go. Of course, you have been dealing with polarities your whole life-Barry's book provides language to think, understand, and use polarities in your life.This is an amazing book for organizations and life!

I really love this book. And presents Polarity Thinking and uses challenging examples in our daily lives to demonstrate the importance of and/both thinking. This book is a roadmap to a more understanding, unified future!

Nicely written and useful strategies!