the 2x2 matrix is often just a glorified illustration of the ability to recognize false choices. It's not so much inspiring that an executive would whip out a 2x2 matrix after many months of corporate strategy meetings, as it is depressing that so much time was wasted beforehand.

Any time you feel a conflict, it is because there are two (or more) elements warring against each other. Sometimes it's just a matter of realizing that we've told ourselves that we can only have one or the other, and discovering that we can instead say "both", which is what the upper right areas of these little matrices are about. Most of us don't need months of corporate meetings to recognize that.

false choices... dichotomies... double-binds... 2x2 matrices... all related.