Lay out pairs that that are apparent paradoxes, such as:
- Personal vs Professional
- Activities vs Results
- Individual vs Team
- …
For your sticky situation. Then pick one that makes a difference.
To pick the one to try, you might consider…
- Tried it? : y/n
- Is it possible? : y/n
- Will it respond quickly? : y/n
Once you focus in on one that you want to focus on, you can use Polarity Management by Barry Johnson
What are the benefits and drawbacks of focusing on one side of the paradox and on the other side?
| Individual | Team | |
| + | Recognition | Work gets done |
| - | Isolation | Hiding |
What often happens is that you see the benefits of one side, go there, then over time, get the drawbacks, then see the benefits of the other side, and switch, then …
Because of this, systems tend to oscillate between paradoxes when you’re not conscious of this. According to Barry, setup systems where you’re going back and forth between benefits of both sides.