Polarities in the Bill Ford Video

Polarities in the Bill Ford Video

There were several polarities in the Bill Ford video/script. To name a few polarities are:

Big picture/Day-to-day details

Green/Not green

Cost/Quality

Individual/Team

Yen/Yang

Long term vision/Short term vision

Bill Ford was aware that he could only handle the big picture. He let someone else worry about the details. When polarities are not managed, things are going to head one way and they did in Bill's case. "He became too disconnected from the company."(,20xxxxxx) To manage this polarity, meetings could be held with department heads to discuss the details and the goals of the big picture. Agreements could be made where the day-to-day details supported the big picture and the big picture was a result of the day-to-day operations.

Oh, the polarity of building the world's most environmentally friendly green building and produce vehicles that where so not environmentally friendly. The vehicle was so not green it was compared to cigarettes. To manage this polarity, a committee could have been set up to study the upside and the downside of building new or remodeling the old building. And to decide how to best use the $2 million, tearing down and rebuilding new vs remodeling the old building and making changes vs not changing their best money-making SUV.

Team verses individual is probably a polarity in every company. Individually, he had some great ideas for a building, however, he received push back from his team. He solved this polarity by telling them his name was on the door and convincing them that it was a good idea. This is one of the hardest to manage because sometimes it's hard to know where on the polarity map to place every event. If it is right for the individual, it must be right for the team would seem to make sense but in this polarity, that is not true. Meetings of the top management does not always solve polarities but in this case, it would help to manage it.

Yen/Yang. Imagine being an employee with beautiful sky lights, lunch on the roof in this green garden with fields of wild flowers and ivy growing on the outside of the building to keep the employees cool in the summertime and warm in the winter. How serene. But they are working on the most non-environmentally friendly vehicle of their company. After the building is built and the $2 million is spent, the only way to manage would be to enjoy the building and do your job.

The cost verses the quality probably is another polarity that every company tries to manage. Ford's company, like many, instead of dealing with the polarity of the best money maker