“You need to pick a side to be on or you’re going to the principal’s office!”
Dread words for a 10-year old to hear.
My 5th grade teacher had been dividing the class through a series of “this or that” questions. She would pose a question, like “Do you like pizza or hotdogs better?”. Then kids gathered on the side of the chalkboard they agreed with.
For most questions, she would have a middle section. And if I was being honest with myself, I didn’t think I leaned too far to one side or the other of anything she asked.
But for the last one, the teacher insisted there was no in between. You were either a talker or you were quiet.
I didn’t budge. Then came the threats.
Nothing like a public school exercise to teach kids to shut up and listen to authority.
Pick a Side
Now, there was a lot to be said for my teacher’s generation when it came to banding together to solve a larger problem. If someone didn’t pull their weight, the work might not get done.
That’s created large, centralized bureaucracies that used to help people. But now they largely exist for their own benefit.
If only we could just get them moving in the right direction with enough of the right people…
But does that still work in our day?
People cleaving to one side or the other is only adding more pressure on higher and higher scales. And I can’t agree that our lives are better for it.
Loving Zealotry
You see, optimizing for one side or the other may work for a short time. But the tendency is always to double down on doing the same thing that worked (aka: rinse and repeat) over and over.
Until it doesn’t.
Then a wave of discontent swings the pendulum the other way. Instead of progress, two sides are always reclaiming ground from each other.
And if it’s not one side winning out and making advances, it’s a weak compromise that appears to give everyone a little of what someone assumed they wanted. But no one’s is satisfied with the result.
What it takes for two opposing sides to get what they want is a quantum leap in understanding. And there’s always more than one solution to make it happen.
Solutions that don’t take burgeoning, central authority to enforce, either.
Off the Axis
So two opposing sides to both get what they want?
Without a mushy compromise?
It’s possible. I do it all the time in engineering. This is how great inventions are made.
People want better, faster, smarter, cheaper goods and services. And people like me deliver it to them.
Because I don’t want to give up strength in order to gain speed. I can change its shape or use parts of its structure in a different way to get both.
But this isn’t limited to engineering. People’s behaviors mimic physical properties…
What would you build when you realize there are no contradictions?
Welcome to Axis Theory
It’s 2026. We’ve moved away from chalkboards in our classrooms.
And though I didn’t like that 5th grade classroom, the experiment taught me a lot.
Now, we’re facing a social landscape that’s as polarized as ever.
But the more polarized those axes, the stronger any solution will be using Axis Theory.
Do you have to pick a side? Maybe…
But remember: there’s a point beyond those two axes. One that could make them both happy.
And, more importantly, make you happy.
Do you want to hear more about Axis Theory? Leave me a comment below about a problem you’re facing and I’ll write something about it.
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