Change vs. Stability - not a problem, a polarity - deal with it

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Are You Facing a Problem? Or a Polarity? - Center for Creative Leadership

A problem is something that can have a right — or best — answer; a solution exists. But a polarity is a dilemma that is ongoing, unsolvable and contains seemingly opposing ideas. We usually think of them in adversarial terms: growth vs. consolidation; short term vs. long term, innovation vs. efficiency, centralization vs. decentralization, change vs. stability.

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“A polarity is a pair of interdependent opposites — if you focus on one of those to the neglect or exclusion of the other, at some point in time you dip into negative unintended consequences,” he explains.

Too often we force people to choose sides, as if only one decision is the right one.