Today’s leaders face constant competing demands: drive innovation while managing daily operations, integrate AI while keeping the human touch, and boost productivity without burning out teams. Under pressure, most people default to binary “either/or” choices, which often leads to strategic whiplash, workplace conflict, and leadership fatigue.
In this webinar, global leadership expert Dr. Wendy K. Smith introduces a practical approach for navigating modern workplace pressures: Both/And Thinking. Drawing from two decades of research on how decisions get made under stress, Wendy shows managers how to reframe trade-offs into powerful opportunities for growth and creative problem-solving.
Participants will learn the ABCD Paradox System—a step-by-step model focused on Assumptions, Boundaries, Comfort, and Dynamics—to break free from rigid, black-and-white habits. Whether you are balancing team dynamics or leading through organizational change, this webinar provides straightforward tools to help you make smarter decisions, defuse tension, and lead with lasting confidence.
Key Takeaways
● Shift from Either/Or to Both/And: How to treat strategic tensions as opportunities rather than problems to eliminate.
● Uncover the Hidden Costs of Binary Thinking: How to recognize and prevent strategic whiplash, overfocus, and team polarization.
● Deploy the ABCD Paradox System: How to apply a step-by-step framework (Assumptions, Boundaries, Comfort, Dynamics) to resolve daily workplace trade-offs.
About the Speaker
Wendy K. Smith, PhD, is a globally recognized leadership expert and a Fellow of the Academy of Management. Recognized as one of the Thinkers50 Top 50 Management Thinkers and recipient of the Thinkers50 Breakthrough Idea Award, her research ranks among the top 1% most cited worldwide. She is the co-author, with Marianne Lewis, of the bestselling book Both/And Thinking: Embracing Creative Tensions to Solve Your Toughest Problems. Wendy has spent over two decades advising Fortune 500 executives and global organizations on how to navigate complexity and strategic trade-offs.