Ambidexterity and agility

Together with leadership, we make visible where stability is desired and where experimentation should be explicitly permitted. This keeps agility from becoming a general buzzword. The question is what kind of adaptability a specific strategic challenge requires. Those responsible name the tasks, resources and limits of both modes. Collaboration at the transitions is particularly important, so that an exploration with sound findings can become an actionable decision.

We examine which roles, decision paths and learning routines support this tension. An experiment is not scaled simply because it is new; it is judged by its customer value and the demands it places on the organisation. Conversely, an early learning signal must not fail on the same short-term indicators as the established business. The result is clarified decisions for both kinds of work and a routine that transfers insights between them.

Innovation zwischen Verfeinerung und Erkundung ausbalancieren: Innovationsfähigkeit entsteht aus dem bewussten Umgang mit zwei unterschiedlichen Lernbewegungen: Exploitation verfeinert bestehende Gewissheiten, Effizienz und Routinen; Exploration sucht neue Möglichkeiten, experimentiert und nimmt Unsicherheit in Kauf. Welche Seite mehr Ressourcen benötigt, hängt vom Umfeld und von den strategischen Prioritäten ab. Für die Selbsterneuerung gilt deshalb, Variation zu ermöglichen, relevante Optionen zu selektieren und tragfähige Neuerungen wieder in Routinen zu überführen.

Arbeitsergebnisse: Unterschiedene Aufgaben für Optimierung und neue Entwicklung; Geklärte Ressourcen-, Führungs- und Entscheidungsfragen; Passende Arbeitsformen und Verbindung zwischen den Bereichen.

The right set-up depends on the business model and on how uncertain the tasks are. Together we define the brief, the people involved and the development steps required.

Combining exploitation and exploration requires different questions within the same leadership. With what already exists, the question is how services are delivered reliably, to a high quality and economically. With new options, it is initially open whether customers see a benefit and what capabilities the organisation needs. Questions about the future cannot be answered with the routines of current operations alone. At the same time, exploration without reference to the business would merely be a collection of ideas.

Together with those responsible, we therefore define search fields, decision rights and criteria for learning steps. An experiment is given room to test its assumptions, but also a point in time at which a decision is made on continuing or ending it. For it to be taken over into the existing business, processes, leadership and resources must be connected anew.

Tensions are to be expected: one unit protects its current performance promise while another trials an uncertain possibility. A shared leadership routine makes this tension discussable. Ultimately, ambidexterity shows in whether an organisation can handle both without sacrificing the future to short-term efficiency or operations to an unevaluated idea.

Ambidexterity describes the tension between the reliable performance of the existing business and the search for new possibilities. The two activities require different forms of steering. In the core business, repeatable processes and known quality standards count; a new option needs room for learning and for testing uncertain assumptions. Leadership decides which resources are available for both and by which criteria a new idea is pursued further. This does not mean creating two unconnected organisations.

Knowledge from the market and operations must be exchanged between units so that the new fits the strategy and the existing can be developed further. We look at this connection in the specific company and determine when an experiment is ended, adjusted or transferred into regular value creation. This decision needs criteria that suit the task, rather than judging every new project by the standards of the core business.