The Fallacy Of Binary Thinking In Leadership

As a leader you are often presented with directly opposing views from two trusted work colleagues with strong convincing arguments why their opposing opinions are correct. You have to deal with important goals that are in direct conflict and competing simultaneously. You have to deal with the inherent opposing forces of driving your team to operate in a rigorous, relentlessly incremental, lean, and analytical manner while still demanding that they embrace audacious blue-sky missions, foster deep innovation, think and act creatively, and work with passion and gut-feel.

The popular thinking on these situations is to adopt a view that is neither pure black nor pure white but grey? I believe this is a terrible idea. Grey is a weak color that results from the dilution of two strong colors. For me “grey” represented a willingness to accept mediocre or compromised outcomes. It is neither hot nor cold. Not heaven and not hell. It is limbo. Limbo is the worst possible place to be as a leader.

I am an electronic engineer by schooling. I like things clear. Binary logic. It is a one or a zero. Noting in between. No fuzzy logic. This line of reasoning was good when I was an engineer, but did not help me as a CEO. I would often find myself concluding that many opposing ideas or objectives were simultaneously correct. This was not a watering down of the opposing ideas. This was equivalent to saying the situation is both 100% black and 100% white at the same time. This would perplex my team. I would hear them say, “how can you conclude this, surely it must be one or the other.” What if my team concluded that I was not prepared or able to make the “hard” decision? I knew this was not a problem for me, but I needed a way to explain the rationale for my conclusions. Unfortunately, my earlier education did little to provide answers. In fact, western teachings and its linear thought process was not a source of enlightenment.

I found my answers in the ancient Chinese philosophy of yin yang. It provides a way of observing the world based on the idea of the dynamic balance of opposites and the processes of unfolding events and change.

Yin and yang are opposite but complimentary energies. What does this really mean? Although they are totally different in their individual qualities and nature, they are interdependent and act together. Yin and Yang cannot exist without the other; they are never separate. When yin and yang are in balance, the system is in harmony. It is the simultaneous opposites energies acting in balance that makes a healthy system.

This is exactly what happens in a team trying to achieve an audacious goal or objective. Often you need opposite energies, ideas, and opinions operating simultaneously to succeed. They are distinctly different but ultimately interdependent. They should not be watered down or modified. They must be allowed to exist in their pure form. It is the balance of these energies that must be managed and when done correctly, harmony and extreme productivity can result. It is the responsibility of the leader to manage balance and achieve harmony. This can only happen if the leader first accepts the premise that a situation can be both a one and  a zero at the same time.

"All universal things shoulder the Yin and embrace the Yang. The Yin and Yang mingle and mix with each other to beget the harmony."

Tao Te Ching - Verse 42