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 explore:

• 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.

Resources mentioned:

• Both/And Thinking by Wendy Smith and Maryanne Lewis
• Barry Johnson’s Polarity Map

Explore more leadership and team conversations: https://www.youtube.com/@thrivingculture

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