SixSEED Partners

Polarity Thinking

Staying Present AND Anticipating the Future

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During this time of the coronavirus and high stress amongst many, it is easy to find oneself blaming others for what might not be working.  For example, I’ve read complaints that we knew we were vulnerable to a pandemic and failed to plan adequately for it as we focused more on political or economic agendas which were real NOW.  There were some who feared that spending too much time preparing for something that might never happen would be a waste of time to the detriment of immediate issues.  Which perspective is correct?  Both!

One of the tensions often present as we lead complex organizations and deal with unpredictable change is that of honoring and being present to the needs and gifts of now, AND planning for future demands.  Healthcare has had to meet volume-driven payment models while planning for value-based care.  We have to serve our existing inpatient and ambulatory patient visits while planning for the future of telemedicine.  More imminent right now is meeting the existing demands of COVID-19 patients while planning for predictive surges in viral spread and increasing demands for personal protective equipment and ventilators, as well as planning for sustainable adaptation when the new normal becomes evident. 

What happens when we take a problem-solving approach to these interdependent challenges, without considering the interdependent tensions?  We find ourselves arguing loudly for our perspective believing there is one right answer and we have it, which creates more stress for us and others and can cause a see-saw-like approach which results in inconsistent performance and wasted resources.

I met with a client recently who is a physician and clinical leader dealing with both in-hospital and public health issues.  What she found most helpful in our dialogue were the reminders to practice self-care now, so that she could take care of others in the future.  She also appreciated the idea for harvesting seeds of positive ways of interacting during this crisis now that can help her, her teams, and her system to function more effectively in the future.  Without the intention to pause and document those positive interactions, she and her system remain at risk of reverting back to ineffective habits.

Below is a polarity map which outlines this tension of being present and anticipating the future, in service to an agile and prepared organization.  

At SixSEED Partners, we want to develop leaders who have the capacity to see these interdependent tensions to better lead in this time of uncertainty.  Missing are action steps and warning signs that would be added based on what is relevant for you and your teams.  One action step for staying present for the leader previously mentioned would be taking the last 15 minutes of a meeting and harvesting what worked during that meeting and what barriers existed that would allow them to create new ways of interacting in the immediate future.

If you’d like your own editable polarity map to give yourself the systemic view of the tension you are navigating, or if you have questions about how you might use this information now, complete our contact form and we’ll respond within 1 business day.

Gathering Facts AND Thriving in Uncertainty

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As mentioned in our previous post, SixSEED Partners would like to provide you immediately applicable tools to help you lead during this time of unprecedented disruption.  These tools can help elevate leadership capacity in leaders at any level.  These times call us to leverage problem solving skills which often have a right/ wrong- black and white answer along with both/and responses to complex interdependent tensions (if you want to know more, stay tuned for a webinar being offered soon).  

Leading during Covid-19 requires both problem solving as we learn facts concerning viral spread and leveraging uncertainty- what we don’t yet know.  As we learn facts about the corona virus, we can problem-solve where there are definitely right and wrong answers.  For example, we know the right way to wash our hands and to deploy personal protective equipment so that it is accessible to those who most need it.  Decision-making during complex and ambiguous times also requires the ability to know when we’ve exhausted what we know, and could benefit from the deployment of faith and possibilities.  Faith is not often spoken in healthcare, AND we know that deploying faith along with facts helps to strengthen our resilience and positively infects others.

The Polarity Map® below takes you through how you might leverage this tension in service to our greater purpose of impactful and informed decision-making.  Since this virus is new, we are leveraging what we know and have used in the past, while dancing in the moment as we discover new patterns of viral spread; infection and disease manifestation.  

If we listen to the news, there are many who want to blame others for spreading “wrong information.”  If all acknowledged the tension of what we know with what we don’t know, perhaps we’d be more forgiving in our perceptions.  Each human being on this planet is now challenged with leveraging their own tensions around their behavior.  How do I protect myself and loved ones, while also contributing to the common good?  As the primary caregiver for my 88 year-old mom, I’m challenged by leveraging the therapeutic benefit of my presence and healing touch, with the risk of exposing her to the virus should I be a carrier without symptoms. I’m not convinced the risk of exposure is of greater risk than that of her not seeing me which provides her reason to live.

The map below is a suggestion of how you might leverage action steps and warning signs to make sure you’re fully-leveraging the benefits of both poles and minimizing the downside limitations.  Merely balancing isn’t good enough. Truly great performance comes from full-leverage – staying out of the downsides as much as possible and staying in the upsides as much as possible. System-level resilience is directly tied to how well leaders and those who follow them leverage this and other polarity tensions. Here’s the bottom line: while either/or thinking is useful, it’s not up to the task of leveraging the interdependencies that show up for leaders, teams, and organizations.

If you’d like your own editable polarity map to give yourself the systemic view of the tension you are navigating, or if you have questions about how you might use this information now, complete our contact form and we’ll respond within 1 business day.

Leveraging Polarities to Create Sustainable High Performance: A Physician and Nurse Leadership Academy Day of Learning

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In April of 2019, WellSpan Physician and Nursing leaders were brought together for a transformative Day of Learning conducted by SixSeed Partners.

Dr. Larry McEvoy presenting the background of polarities.

For over a year SixSeed Partners worked with system senior leaders to increase the capacities for transformational change and leveraging polarities to create and measure sustainable performance. As the work of polarities had begun to permeate throughout the system, the was an expressed need to increase nursing and physician leadership knowledge about the power of polarities.

Educating Nursing Leadership AND Physician Leadership

Polarities are interdependent pairs of values or points of view that may appear as opposite, but when leveraged together can produce powerful outcomes. Prior to the workshop,

WellSpan choose four polarities to concentrate their work:Joy Goldman, RN, MS, PCC discusses the mindset shift to AND thinking.

Joy Goldman, RN, MS, PCC discusses the mindset shift to AND thinking.

  • Centralized and Decentralized- Focus on the independent business units needs AND systems opportunities;
  • Continuity and Transformation- Keeping the legacy and traditions of the past AND transforming for the future;
  • Tactical and Strategic- Increasing leadership capacity to think tactically AND strategically at the same time; and
  • Margin and Mission- Optimizing the financial health AND mission goals for individuals, systems and teams.

The physicians and nursing leaders learned that each polarity was not a problem to be solved, but a mindset to embrace, thus the “AND” mindset was put in motion for the group.  Interactive practice tools were given to help mobilize teams toward forward movement when they experienced repeated cycles of interdependent tension.

Perhaps the most significant take-away was the provision of language for the leaders to hold and invite numerous perspectives, which support AND thinking and leading within complexity.

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Individual leaders start to map their own polarities.

“It was so helpful to hear what others have learned. I’m a new director, so to hear from other directors and doctors was so helpful for me in my new role.”  — Nursing Director

 

“To mention the elephant in the room, it was pivotal to our success today to bring nursing and physician leaders into the same room, to encourage dialogue around our common polarities.” — Chief Medical Officer

 

“I am going to go back to my team tomorrow and integrate eight minutes of dialogue into our meetings instead of our usual one-way conversation and problem solving.”  — Physician Leader

Physicians as Systemic Change Leaders: Six Applications of Polarity Thinking in Support of Physician Leadership Development

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(Published in collaboration with Margaret Cary, MD, MBA, MPH, PCC)

In the March 2018 issue of The Future of Coaching, Margaret introduced the idea of using Polarity Thinking and Polarity Maps to help physicians shift from an Either/Or, problem-oriented viewpoint to an approach that includes a Both/And perspective to leverage personal and professional lives. We (Joy and Margaret) each use polarity maps with our coaching clients, who appreciate creating their own solutions in graphic form. We let clients drive the process as we facilitate their moving into a Both/And frame of mind.

Read the article as published at the Library of Professional Coaching