Figure 2
Wellbeing Value
Make money
Economic
Environmental waste
and resource lost
Conserve the environment
Resource sustainability
Environmental
Lower material
standard of living
Leveraging Polarities Instead of Solving Problems
on environmental wellbeing is resource sustainability – we use
In his book Polarity Management: Identifying and Man-
more renewables and reduce waste. The bottom boxes are the
aging Unsolvable Problems, author Barry Johnson draws a
downsides that occur when we over-focus on that pole to the
critical distinction between problems to be solved and polari-
neglect of the other.
ties to be leveraged. Some issues aren’t problems to be solved,
We take this cycle of shifting from one pole to anoth-
he argues. Instead, their fundamental nature is a polarity – an
er as the norm. We put the economy first and attend to the
interdependent pair – and the trick is to leverage both sides
environment when convenient. Or, we base our whole life on
of the polarity instead of choosing one or the other. Polarity
the accumulation of material things and wonder why we feel
leveraging is supported by both/and thinking, not the either/
spiritually empty (material and spiritual polarity). Sometimes
or thinking we are used to.
we marvel at how elite athletes are in
Applying this to our eight-com-
prime physical condition but experi-
ponent model of wellbeing, Figure 1
ence periods of psychological ill-health
I see it as a solemn responsibility
illustrates four fundamental polarities as
post-career (physical and psychological
to not just talk about what’s
diagonals: economic and environmental,
polarity).
wrong in the world, but to
social and cultural, physical and psycho-
Because we fail to perceive these
develop solutions.
logical, and material and spiritual.
wellbeing polarities, we get caught in
Social wellbeing, for example, refers
a vicious cycle of “over-invest – create
to how a society lives together despite
problems – compensate – back-to-
differences. Cultural wellbeing refers to our ethnic differences
where-we-started” loop. When this is played out across all of
and cultural diversity. These two components of wellbeing
society, we quickly realize how our lack of polarity leveraging
are a polarity – that is, they are interdependent for wellbeing.
is costing us dearly in terms of our wellbeing. Leveraging both
Cultural wellbeing helps to ensure we preserve cultural differ-
poles at the same time avoids the excessive downsides and
ences. But if we all retreat into our cultural corners, we lose
creates value on both poles.
the integration our modern multi-cultural society needs. It’s
not an either/or choice or a problem to be solved. Rather, it’s
The Move to National Wellbeing
an unsolvable polarity; both need to be leveraged because they
A number of countries are moving to the adoption of a
are interdependent to wellbeing.
wellbeing governance and performance framework. This is
really encouraging news. Many of these frameworks aim to
Infinity Loops: Where we are Racking Up Wellbeing
measure the economic, social, environmental, and cultur-
Costs
al wellbeing of the country. While this is a step in the right
Either/or thinking is costing us dearly in terms of well-
direction, they tend to measure each component of wellbeing
being. The polarity map in Figure 2 depicts the positive and
separately.
negative sides of two poles within a polarity. The benefits of
If wellbeing is more about how we leverage polarities
each pole are at the top. For example, a key benefit of focusing between components, this is also what we need to measure. At
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