Do you have an ambidextrous company?

The ambidextrous person uses the left and right hand with equal skill. In the world of management, the ambidextrous professional is the one who has the ability to exploit current capabilities while continuing to explore new opportunities for future development

One of the biggest challenges that organizations face in the face of uncertainty is how to simultaneously exploit the current business and explore new opportunities. Exploration usually generates radical (or discontinuous) innovation; Exploitation tends to produce more incremental innovation. Focusing too much on excellence in day-to-day operations can cause an organization to lose long-term vision and risk its future viability, while emphasizing exploration over organizational alignment can lead us to build tomorrow’s business at the cost of today’s.

Ultimately, innovation is a matter of people, there are people who are alert to opportunities and go beyond the limits of their own work to mobilize the people around them, and take action, while others tenaciously cling to the prevailing procedures and norms in the organization. Hence the importance of asking ourselves, in times of accelerated change and in the face of a future that is anything but the extrapolation of the past, whether we have a ambidextrous company, that is, if we have enough people capable of exploiting the past and exploring the future, without fear of failure, because for them failure is only validated learning.

 

Dual Organizations: Two Different Worlds

It is generally accepted that exploitation and exploration are two fundamentally different types of activities between which companies divide their attention and resources.

Dual Organizations: Exploitation and Exploration

In the world of exploitation , activities are generally related to the operation of the core business through the execution and continuous improvement of current business processes or technological capabilities. It includes core processes, such as operations, sales, customer services, and finance and the continuous innovation of products, services, or processes, and the development of existing sales and operations channels.

The objectives of the operation are mainly commercial, financial and performance. It’s about efficiency, productivity, and results. Most of the income generated by a company comes from the execution of operating activities, it is what keeps it alive. In terms of Ambidextrous organizations Exploitation is similar to right-handed writing.

In the world of exploration , activities are related to the development of future businesses through the search for new business models and often disruptive, or of new technological capabilities. It includes the development of new business models, new approaches to customers, radical innovations, and transformation projects that require new skills and the development of new digital competencies.

Exploration objectives are often more strategic and closer to vision, but the benefits are only achieved in the medium to long term and, as such, are less tangible and quantifiable than operational objectives. These goals aim to transform the business to significantly increase its growth and profitability. In addition, it is a high-risk activity and there is no certainty that the expected benefits will be achieved. In ambidextrous terms, it’s similar to writing with your left hand.

 

 

 

Ambidextrous companies with ambidextrous professionals

In terms of management, we consider that a company or organization is ambidextrous, when it has professionals, who, regardless of their job position, have the ability to effectively balance the exploitation of the current business and the exploration of new opportunities. They are professionals who, on their own initiative, act outside the formal boundaries of the job and explore new opportunities for the benefit of the broader interests of the organization.

Julian Birkinshaw, in his research on ambidextrous organizations (MIT Sloan Management Review 2004) identified four behaviors characteristic of ambidextrous professionals:

1. Ambidextrous Professionals Take the Lead And they are alert to opportunities beyond the confines of their own jobs. In the sales area, they are clearly recognizable by their ability to act as true business developers in identifying new growth opportunities.
2. Ambidextrous Professionals Are Cooperative and look for opportunities to combine their efforts with others. They are individuals with high credibility as born contributors to collective innovation.
3. Ambidextrous professionals are connectors, always seek to build internal and external links, favor open innovation and are born creators of social capital.
4. Ambidextrous professionals are multitaskers, have the ability to perform two or more exploitation and exploration tasks at the same time. They are able to solve both technical problems and adaptive challenges where people are part of the problem.

For this to be possible, the organization must be ambidextrous and provide the necessary context for individuals to develop the right behaviors, and have a framework of contribution that allows them to take the lead in the exploration and development of new business opportunities.

 

A Matter of Leadership

To survive in the face of change, companies require their leaders to do two critical but contradictory things: exploit existing assets and capabilities through continuous improvement of their products and services, and explore new markets and technologies where their existing assets and capabilities can give them a competitive advantage over new entrants.

Leadership and the ability to exploit and explore are different. If companies are to be able to exploit existing business models and reconfigure existing assets in ways that allow them to explore the future, leadership is critical. Ambidexterity as an individual organizational capacity must be nurtured; If it’s not protected, it can easily get lost. Long-term success only occurs when the organization’s leaders are ambidextrous, exploiting success in existing businesses and leveraging the company’s existing capabilities to explore new markets.

Without a clear strategic intent, the protection and support of senior management, and an ambidextrous organizational architecture, it is difficult to resolve the tensions inherent in resources that have to be shared for exploitation and exploration. Hence, the need to create new networked contribution frameworks that go beyond jobs and allow individuals to explore and develop new business opportunities.

I’d like to hear from you. Do you think that the ability to balance exploitation and exploration is essential for the survival of your company?

Organizational Design Consulting

Create Ambidextrous Organizations With ambidextrous professionals, it is a process that requires a cultural change in the management of the company and its workers. If you need to have a
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