Area health care professionals attend polarity thinking conference

Participants at a recent conference hosted by Grand Valley's Wesorick Center for Health Care Transformation were better acquainted with "polarity thinking" by a master of the subject, Bonnie Wesorick.

Wesorick led a session October 15 at the Interprofessional Institute for Polarity Thinking in Health Care held at the Alumni House. Twenty area health care professionals attended the three-day conference.

She explained polarities as interdependent pairs of values that need each other over time to achieve sustainable outcomes, and said that workplace issues will not change until more leaders understand and incorporate polarity thinking as a skill to manage tensions and conflicts.

"When people leverage polarities, they achieve automation without dehumanization, enhance partnerships without losing identities and are capable of innovation without losing stability," said Wesorick, who is the author of Polarity Thinking: The Missing Logic. 

Conference attendees were asked to write down and share workplace situations that concerned them. Many situations centered on caring for more patients with fewer staff members or resources, or personal polarities like work-life balance.

Wesorick said polarity thinking means both poles need to exist for a solution that neither could achieve alone. This is about both/and thinking, not an "either-or" situation, she said, adding polarity thinking principles translate well to business, law and other fields.

Barry Johnson, considered the "father of polarity thinking, will present the 2019 Wesorick Distinguished Lectureship on April 9; watch for details from the Wesorick Center.

The Wesorick Center is an endowed center within the Kirkhof College of Nursing dedicated to leading the transformation of health care through scholarly research, projects and collaborative opportunities that focus on creating the best places to give and receive care.