UNIT FOUR ASSIGNMENTS
Unit Four Case Analysis
Read the section on page 279 titled “Putting Patient Needs
or Employee Needs First?”. Prepare your composition to cover the following
topics or questions with in the Body section of the paper described for this
assignment:
1. What does Johnson say about the polarity two-step and
about working on the polarity map?
2. What are the difficulties dealing with polarity?
3. How would you address Johnson’s questions of “Is the
difficulty ongoing?” and “Are there two interdependent poles?”
Write a 5 page paper (1500 or more words) in APA format.
Below is a recommended outline.
1. Cover page (See APA Sample paper)
2. Introduction
a. A thesis statement
b. Purpose of paper
c. Overview of paper
3. Body (Cite sources with in-text citations.)
4. Conclusion – Summary of main points
a. Lessons Learned and Recommendations
5. References – List the references you cited in the text of
your paper according to APA format.
(Note: Do not include references that are not cited in the
text of your paper)
page 279
Putting Patient Needs or Employee Needs First?
Mapping out this polarity enables you to see the whole
picture or structure of the dilemma. To focus exclusively on patient needs may
result in not meeting important employee needs, which may then result in lower
morale and productivity, indirectly affecting how the respiratory therapists
meet patient needs. The clearest opposites in the polarity map are the downside
of one polarity and the upside of the other. Johnson (1996, p. 11) calls
movement through the grid the “polarity two-step.” It starts in either lower
quadrant and moves across and up, down, and then repeats.
The difficulty in dealing with polarities occurs because
each party is convinced that it is right in its particular conviction and
basically sees only its side. Having the group work through the polarity map
helps create the whole picture. Instead of the parties’ disagreeing and
contradicting each other’s view, the task becomes to supplement each other’s
view in order to see the entire picture. Parties on both sides of the polarity
have key pieces to the puzzle; they just need this simple structure to help
identify and share them. The opposition that each side feels to the other
actually becomes a key resource in dealing with the issue. No one is being
challenged; instead, both parties assume the accuracy of each position. As a
result, there is joint effort in combining two valid views of a situation in
order to see a more complete picture.
Johnson (1996, p. 45) says that “in most organizations there
are often very serious and costly confrontations that take place because a
‘both/and’ polarity is treated like an ‘either/or’ problem to solve.” In
working out the polarity map together, the possibility of each participant
seeing the other quadrants and more fully understanding the issue occurs
because the process has not contradicted their own view of reality but
confirmed it. “Successful management of polarities calls for intentional
interventions that support both values (poles) simultaneously” (Wesorick, 2002,
p. 24).
One of the difficult challenges is knowing when there is a
polarity to manage instead of a problem to solve. Johnson (1996) offers two
questions to use for help in deciding which you are facing: Is the difficulty
ongoing? Are there two interdependent poles?
If a solution exists that is a definite end point in a
process, the problem is solvable. An example is the decision about where to
have the holiday party. Once the group makes the decision, it is done. This is
an either-or problem: either we go here, or we go there. Once the group makes
the decision, it is carried out. Problems of choice are solved the minute the
choice is made. But solving polarities is a continual process. Instead of
reaching an end point, there is a never-ending change of emphasis or focus from
one pole to another. For example, emphasizing and rewarding individual
performance is appropriate at some times, and focusing on the team effort is
appropriate at other times.
The second question is whether there are two poles that are
interdependent. “The solution in problems to solve can stand alone. Unlike a
polarity to be managed, the solution to a problem to solve does not have the
necessary opposite that is required for the solution to work over an extended
period of time” (Johnson, 1996, p. 82). Polarities instead require both poles.
The issue of manager accessibility to employees is an example. On the one hand,
for the manager to be available to employees is an important aspect of the job,
yet the manager also needs to have quiet, uninterrupted time in order to do the
work that requires concentrated thinking time. If the manager is accessible at
all times, it is likely that many aspects of the leadership role are getting
short shrift. And no leader who is in his or her office with the door closed
the entire workday is going to be perceived as effective by his or her staff.
Once the polarity map is complete, the question is: What do
we need to do to stay in the upper two quadrants? In the respiratory therapist
example, the question is: How can we meet both patient and employee needs? How
do we know when to shift the focus from one pole to another? The group then has
identified actions to support each side of the polarity and is more likely to
recognize in the future when overemphasis on either pole has occurred.
A director of education was frustrated with the seemingly
constant conflict and disagreement about whether educators should be
decentralized in the departments or located in the centralized education
department. She used the polarity map to work her group through the issue. They
identified practical strategies to manage this polarity. In a preoperative
division, the director used this process to work with his staff as they
explored the polarity of specialized operating room teams or emphasizing
generalization of skills of staff.
