Polarity Management in Healthcare System - Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

Polarity Management™ is a brilliant and simple model, developed by Barry John, Ph.D. that helps individuals and groups work with naturally occurring polarities. Problems have solutions that can be considered an end point. They require either/or decisions and once the decision has been made, the inherent tension within the problem is released so that people can get to work. Effective leadership requires the ability to distinguish between problems that are solvable and polarity issues which are both unsolvable and unavoidable. Polarity management allows us to identify and assess  the strength and weakness of multiple sides of an issue, so that we can find a balance and work accordingly. Integrated health systems are confronted with numerous functions that have to be managed. Many of these functions are an inherent part of the system's structure, given the co-location of multiple competing hospitals, medical groups, and (sometimes) health plans under one organizational roof. Simply put polarity management can be very often noticed between objective &  subjective.