Implementation

Beyond Yes And - Navigating Polarities for Government Innovation

Led by: Michael Baskin & Kyle Paterson

Government leaders operate in environments defined by complexity, constraint, and competing demands. Simple either/or decisions rarely reflect the realities of public service. In this minds-on, participatory workshop, you’ll explore how to move beyond binary thinking and learn to work productively with enduring tensions, such as stability and change, speed and inclusion, or accountability and innovation.

Led by Kyle Patterson, Director of Organizational Effectiveness for Boise, ID, and Michael Baskin, Chief Innovation Officer for Montgomery County, MD, the session introduces practical polarity-management tools they use with their own organizations. You’ll practice applying these frameworks to real challenges, gaining approaches that support transformation while preserving trust, mission, and long-term effectiveness.

Session hosted in collaboration with GovernmentxPeople

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

Identify key organizational polarities (e.g., stability and change, control and empowerment) and explain why managing tensions, rather than resolving them, is essential for public sector leadership.
Apply practical polarity-mapping tools to real challenges in their own agencies to surface risks, upsides, and leverage points for action.
Design concrete next steps for leading change that hold competing priorities in constructive tension, supporting transformation without sacrificing mission, trust, or accountability.