You can use Polarity Maps to get the group’s buy-in Polarities are interdependent opposites which function best when both are present to balance with each other Some challenges are polarities to manage, rather than problems to solve Polarity management involves moving from focusing on one pole as the problem and the other as the solution (either/or thinking), to valuing both poles (both/and thinking) Good polarity management gets the best of both poles while avoiding the limits of either A polarity map identifies the upsides and downsides of each pole, resulting in a whole picture of the polarity to be managed Project Managing Change [Uncommon Expertise Ltd, 2008]

The map allows the group to move from AS IS to TO BE and identify solutions How fabulous is today? What are you looking forward to about tomorrow? How bad is today? What is the downside of tomorrow? Steps in creating Polarity Maps: Identify a key polarity Agree on names of the poles and write them onto the map Brainstorm together the content for each quadrant Review and summarise all the good things you have today and that you will still have tomorrow Ask the group what they can do in their jobs to help move this forward – identify solutions/next steps for how you are going to deal with all the negatives in “tomorrow” Project Managing Change [Pearson, 2008]

Polarity Map Template Upsides Downsides Project Managing Change [Pearson, 2008]