From Scrappy to Skilled in Polarity Thinking
- carrollc1
- Oct 31
- 2 min read
I just spent a week in group training with Barry Johnson, the inventor of Polarity Thinking®, on the 50-year anniversary of its creation. Wow. After having written a book featuring polarities, I was eager to assess how well I truly understood the concept. I left the training realizing that I both know a lot about polarities, and I have much to learn. Not surprised there’s a both/and in this one!
What struck me most is how much nuance there is in the concept. I find polarities both simple and complex. How can that be? After studying polarities informally for over a decade, I wanted to make the concept accessible to anyone connected to family businesses, and I found a scrappy way to do it. I simplified the process to a few short steps so anyone can leverage a polarity.
After my week with Barry and his Polarity Partnerships partner (and my friend), Cliff Kayser, I’m still keen on my “scrappy” approach to gettin’ ‘er done, but I appreciate better the subtleties of polarity wisdom that amplify the impact of Polarity Thinking in today’s world. The learning journey feels limitless. Maybe that’s one reason I’m drawn to polarities ~ I love to learn, and I’m relishing the transition from scrappy to skilled in my facility with polarity thinking.
One standout ah-ha from last week is the realization that my “scrappy” approach isn’t measurable. Ironically, I have a measurable polarity assessment in the back of Hug of War, (thanks to Cliff and Polarity Partnerships), and now with my training, I can craft customized polarity maps that allow families to measure how well they are leveraging whatever polarities that are important to them. Bonus: Administering the assessment both before and after a consulting engagement helps families quantify the return on investment by engaging an advisor. Yay.
From Scrappy to Skilled
To help other coaches grow from scrappy to skilled, I am leading a 90-minute webinar on November 18th, 2025, 12:00-1:30p CT called “Leveraging both the Scrappy and the Skilled Use of Polarities in Coaching.” (Get it? Scrappy and Skilled? That’s a polarity, and an alliterative one at that! 🤓) Although it’s for coaches, anyone can join. My goal is to introduce the scrappy approach and then provide resources to grow more skilled.
Last, happy 50-year anniversary of Polarity Thinking, Barry. I’m so glad you helped your client “Anne” leverage the tension between giving and receiving. You contribution to the world may just save us all.
To learn more about leveraging polarities, join my mailing list, visit Polarity Partnerships, read Barry’s book And: Making a Difference by Leveraging Polarity, Paradox or Dilemma, and/or read mine: Hug of War: How to Lead a Family Business With both Love and Logic.
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