Stop Picking Sides – Why Both/And Thinking Matters with Wendy Smith
When two priorities both matter, why do leaders feel such pressure to choose one? The day-to-day work needs attention, but so does the future. A team needs room to act, but it also needs direction.
Wendy Smith has spent more than 25 years studying these recurring tensions. She joins me to explore why an either/or decision can feel so satisfying in the moment, yet leave leaders facing the same problem again.
We look at what both/and thinking asks of us in practice, including the conversations that become possible when different teams see a challenge from different sides. Wendy brings examples from organisational change, strategy and AI, and challenges the idea that holding two priorities means settling for a halfway compromise.
In this episode, we cover:
Why old and new priorities continue to compete as organisations change
The four common organisational paradoxes Wendy studies
How to spot the either/or question hidden in a difficult decision
Why both/and thinking asks for more than meeting in the middle
How listening reveals what each side actually needs
The tension between business as usual and future strategy
What AI reveals about fear, emotion and human judgement
How to separate competing demands before connecting them
Why a shared goal matters across organisational divides
How guardrails and measures help sustain two priorities
What Wendy means by balancing rather than finding a fixed balance
Wendy offers a practical starting point: name the tension, explore each side properly, then ask how you might accommodate both. It will not produce an easy answer to every decision. It can open up options that a quick choice would have kept out of view.
If your team keeps circling the same choice, this conversation may help you ask a better question.
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