Let’s start with this caveat: this is not a comprehensive treatise on complexity and is not meant to be THE way to lead in complexity. But it’s powerful because it’s a two-for-one leadership move.
The approach we outline throughout this piece is highly practical. More importantly, it is what we call a double-dip: expanding Both/And Leadership Capability not only helps leaders navigate complexity, it also makes them more effective in everyday leadership situations. In a world where leaders are already overloaded, that matters. Why invest in a skill that solves only one problem when you can build one that improves performance across many?
If you’re looking for some good resources by experts in leading in complexity—and to hear a bit of our frustration with the conversation, check out our Complexity Soapbox.
What follows is not everything, but it is something. And it’s meant to be practical, which we know leaders are looking for.
Polarities and Complexity
You want to get better at leading in complexity? Learn how to navigate polarities—not just know about polarities (easy – learn more here) but really understand what it means to navigate them on all levels (harder than it sounds).
This series highlights just one of the reasons Both/And Leadership Capability is important to complexity: creating conditions. But first, it’s worth mentioning several of the other ways navigating polarities help when leading in complexity.
How Understanding Polarities Helps in Complexity
- Complex situations are filled with polarities that need to be navigated. And saying “Oh, it’s a polarity” without action isn’t helpful, knowing what to do with them is.
- Both/And helps build our capacity for standing in the ambiguity that’s an inherent part of complexity.
- Polarities provide an easy way to understand the identity or narrative of a system, which can drive complex problems and show us what to do about it.
- Holding the Third Way fosters learning, creativity, flexibility, and resilience—all essential when dealing with complexity.
So, if you want to get better at complexity, deepening and embedding a Both/And mindset and skillset on your team is a great place to start. But the focus of this piece is on practical ways polarities can help leaders create the conditions for teams and organizations to thrive in complexity.
Where This Series Focuses: Creating the Conditions
One thing about complexity is that we can’t simply chase after what looks like the problem with a single solution because there are too many interconnected parts. The work isn’t in driving outcomes; it’s in shaping the conditions that allow outcomes to emerge. Those of us who grew up on farms learned this lesson time and time again.
On the Farm: Why Forcing Solutions Doesn’t Work
- It’s like moving a group of animals—you can’t run full-steam towards one, or the whole group scatters. Instead, you create the conditions to get the herd or flock where you need it to go—in the same way, going after “the thing” in complexity rarely works.
- We don’t grow the garden—we create the conditions for the garden to grow – we bring water when it doesn’t rain, we remove weeds when they threaten, provide stakes that support, and repair unexpected holes in the fence…but we do not “grow” the garden.
In Organizations: What Leaders Need to Do
The same is true of leaders: they can’t control results or the innumerable interdependencies by sheer force. And leaders will never be able to do all the things experts purport they should to lead in complex systems or deal with complex problems.
What they can do is create the conditions within themselves and on their team so the system can better deal with the complexity that is an inherent, unsolvable part of its nature.
Setting Up the Series
So how, practically speaking, do we “create the conditions”?
Based on our work with leaders and teams around the globe, one place to consider is by intentionally navigating the six polarities of the Both/And Leadership Capability Model, identified from research as six of the key tensions leaders must navigate to fulfil their responsibility of vision, delivery, and people inside any organization.
Why These Six Polarities Matter
Not only does this greatly increase overall leadership effectiveness, as it turns out, navigating these six polarities also helps create the conditions needed for individuals and systems to deal with complexity.
This series explores why the six polarities of the Key Polarity Indicator™ (KPI) leadership assessment matter in complexity and how leaders can navigate them with a Both/And mindset to not only increase overall leadership effectiveness but also create the conditions needed for a system to thrive in complexity.
The Double-Dip: Both/And Leadership Capability
It’s a two-for-one skill (at minimum), which we love, because leaders have enough to focus on—why add more to the mix? Navigating polarities is simple and complex. But investing in embedding Both/And as a core pillar of your leadership has a huge ROI.
Not only will you outperform other leaders, you’ll also be creating the conditions for a garden to grow in a complex environment.
Six Polarities of Both/And Leadership Capability
Our research identified six of the key polarities leaders must navigate to effectively inspire people to deliver the results needed to realize their vision.
While important to overall leadership success, each of these polarities also reveals an essential tension leaders face when navigating complexity and show how to create the conditions for teams and organizations to thrive in complexity.
ACTION::REFLECTION
Acting too quickly creates confusion; reflecting too much delays progress. In complexity, we need both, but leaders are often wired for one or the other.
How do we balance urgency with pause, so our reflective action drives the momentum and learning our teams need in complexity?
STABILITY::CHANGE
In complex situations, anchoring too tightly is as damaging as change without a base to stand on. Complexity calls for anchoring in a direction and easily adapting along the way.
What does it take to evolve and advance on a solid ground to instill confidence throughout the organization?
CHALLENGE::SUPPORT
Pushing unrealistic expectations will backfire but coddling people because “complexity is tough” gets you nowhere. Challenging people to think and act differently in complexity requires support on shaky ground.
How can leaders stretch their teams while fortifying them to thrive?
COMPETENCE::WARMTH
You’ll fool yourself (and lose trust) thinking you have all the answers, yet too much humility and curiosity erodes confidence. Complexity demands leaders to openly invite input while being bold in their ability to lead.
What does it take to show up humbly strong to inspire both trust and results?
TASK FOCUS::RELATIONSHIP FOCUS
Simply pushing the work harder leads to fractures; striving for perfect group harmony kills progress. Advancing towards the goal as a system relies on the health of the relationships between the parts.
How do we create space where work and human connection fuels progress?
DIRECT::EMPOWER
Thinking you can control it all is wishful, but being too hands-off is wasteful. To advance and adjust as needed, complexity requires all parts of the system working at the top of their game towards a clearly defined direction.
How do leaders provide clarity while building ownership?
The Key Polarity Indicator brings these six leadership tensions together into a single framework that quickly helps leaders see where their natural preferences create strengths, where they create blind spots, and how greater Both/And Leadership Capability expands overall effectiveness.
Building Both/And Capability Over Time
Each of these polarities, when navigated with a Both/And mindset, can contribute to the conditions needed to thrive in complexity. Each deserves its own exploration because while most leaders do several well, it’s typical to have one or two that could use more attention—and each has a unique impact on our effectiveness in complexity and as a leader overall.
Real Transformation: Expanding the Story
Understanding how to navigate these polarities is an unlocking move to create the transformation needed for real and sustained leadership development.
Often, when leaders try to adopt habits to lead better in complexity, they can’t sustain the actions because their preference for a pole is linked to their identity and derails their best intentions. If I’m known to be “the guy who keeps the trains on the tracks,” telling me to “empower people to learn so we can adjust the plan” might sound good in the moment, but I won’t sustain it over time.
Both/And helps leaders expand their story, not lose part of it. This opens new possibilities for actions that will be sustained over the long-term. You want leadership transformation? Building Both/And Capability by focusing on the six key leadership polarities is a way to get it.
Posted In: Complexity Series