Stop Trying to Solve Every Tension: Some Are Polarities to Manage

On the Subject of Leadership · Mar 3, 2026 · 10m

Research on organisational paradox explains why leadership teams swing so predictably: contradictions generate discomfort and defensiveness, so leaders simplify them into either/or positions and then react when the costs of the chosen position become undeniable. The swing between team autonomy and governance follows that pattern, because a genuine tension is treated as if it had a once-and-for-all answer. In this essay, released in audio format, I set out how to tell a problem to solve from a trade-off to decide and a polarity to manage. It is the first of six essays in the Polarity Mapping…