Leadership Discourse · Scholar Profile

Polarity Management

Barry Johnson · 1992

Some challenges are polarities to manage, not problems to solve.

The Scholar

Barry Johnson developed Polarity Management as a practical method for working with interdependent pairs such as stability and change, centralized and decentralized, or individual and team.

The Idea in Context

A polarity contains two interdependent poles whose upsides are both necessary and whose downsides emerge when either pole is overused. The Polarity Map helps teams identify benefits, fears, action steps, and early-warning signals without turning one pole into the problem.

III

The Enduring Contribution

The big ideaThe goal is not a static compromise; it is sustained movement that captures the upsides of both poles and limits overuse.

Landmark Works

1992

Polarity Management: Identifying and Managing Unsolvable Problems

Practice framework

The Polarity Map®

Open Sky Lineage

This work is mapped within the Paradox lineage: relational roots → organizational tensions → exploration and exploitation → polarity management → structural ambidexterity → formal paradox theory → contemporary both/and practice.

Explore the Both/And module →

In Practice

Separate solvable problems from enduring polarities.

Define action steps and early warnings for the downside of overusing each pole.

VII

Reflection

Which recurring debate is actually an interdependent polarity?

What early warning would tell you that a preferred pole is being overused?

VIII

Sources & Further Reading

Johnson, B. (1992). Polarity Management: Identifying and Managing Unsolvable Problems. HRD Press.

Polarity Map® is a registered framework associated with Polarity Partnerships.