Ambidexterity in Business: Why "Either-Or" No Longer Works
What does ambidexterity actually mean?
“Ambidexterity” may sound medical – but in reality, it's a crucial concept for future-oriented companies. According to the dictionary, the term refers to “the ability to use both hands equally well.”
In the business world, ambidexterity symbolizes a company's ability to further develop existing business models efficiently (exploit) while simultaneously exploring and fostering new innovations (explore).
Why ambidexterity matters now more than ever
Eight years ago, I supervised my first mentee during her thesis on ambidexterity – back then, the term was barely known in the German-speaking world. Today, it’s more relevant than ever.
In times of digitalization and rapid change, it's essential that companies optimize existing processes while building innovative business models. Or, as Stefan Hoch from the “Anonymous Agilists” put it:
“Companies need both the highway and the off-road vehicle.”
The metaphor: Race car and jeep
Let’s imagine a company as a two-vehicle model:
The race car represents the established core business – efficient, reliable, built for high performance.
The jeep stands for exploring new business areas – flexible, robust, ready for the digital jungle.
Each requires different mindsets, methods, and tools. While the race car focuses on continuity and process optimization, the jeep needs agile work methods, cross-silo collaboration, and space for failure tolerance and learning – as practiced by Spotify with so-called squads.
Challenges and cultural tensions
When innovation hubs emerge, envy or lack of understanding often arises within the “rest of the company” – among employees and managers alike. There's a sense of imbalance: Is the new “more important” than the established?
Ambidexterity does not mean hierarchy. Both worlds – race car and jeep – are equally valuable and contribute to value creation in their own way. One is immediately measurable, the other more future-oriented.
How to bridge the gap in your company
The key lies in transparency, exchange, and mutual understanding:
Open the hoods: Provide insights into each way of working.
Test drives foster understanding: Let employees experience other roles or working styles, e.g., through 1–2 days of cross-team sharing.
Promote ambivalence-tolerant leadership: Only then can silos be broken and true collaboration at eye level be established.
Why ambidexterity isn’t an easy leadership approach
Multimodal business leadership requires more than new tools – it demands deliberate transformation management that enables both efficiency and innovation. Ambidexterity is not a one-time project but a strategic leadership decision that must be nurtured continuously.
Conclusion: Now is the time for ambidexterity
Companies that don’t want to be torn between past and future need both: race car and jeep. It’s not either-or, but both-and.
If you want to learn more about how to implement and live ambidexterity in your company, feel free to contact us – or visit us at the Agile Transformation Summit.
