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Being ‘ambidextrous’: Strengthening the executional muscles to overcome the organizational metabolic syndrome

The Arduous March of 2015
It was predicted, but it was also hoped to be proven wrong. The possible recurrence of the Eurozone crisis, the signs of failure of Abenomics and the concerns for hard landing of the Chinese economy. The global economy still remains uncertain.

2 years ago at the 2013 K.E.Y. PLATFORM Conference, ‘2018 Global Scenario’ was presented where it said all participating parties of the global economy will have to continue on with the Arduous March’. The scenario, which used the scenario planning method based on the vote from 100 global fund managers produced an outlook that included a moderate recovery of the US economy until 2018, possible recurrence of the Eurozone crisis, signs of failure of Abenomics and concerns on hard landing of the Chinese economy.

Times of Transition: Where there is a crisis, there is an opportunity
The dynamic environment always provides new opportunities to those who are prepared and those who are constantly preparing. While many countries and companies around the world are struggling due to the uncertain environment, leading global companies are taking advantage of the mobile innovation to take over the market and are using the opportunity to change the market landscape.

The mega-platforms of the G2, namely Google, Amazon, Facebook, Alibaba and Tencent are striving to connect their services with every nook and cranny of our daily lives by transcending industrial boundaries and disrupting existing business models.

The segment champions which are smaller in size but have been able to win the global market with their core technologies are now reaching out not only to their competitors but also their customers. Companies which are in innovation clusters in the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark like Mittelstand of Germany are turning their core technology into a total solution for all industries based on open collaboration. They are working hard to build a realm that cannot be easily overlooked by the masters of the game.

To these companies, ‘preparation’ means ‘exploration’ for innovative ideas from within and across and maximum ‘exploitation’ of existing businesses for gaining resources necessary for exploration.

To this end, they clarify their ‘vision’ and reinforce their ‘strategy’ to help members of their organization to concentrate on execution. Organizational structure and workflows are made flexible or simplified to enable agile decision making and execution. They do not hesitate to learn from startups as they use their organization as a huge test lab.

Korea must be at the forefront of creation
Unfortunately, the Korean economy, industries and corporations are ill. Whether or not the symptoms are felt, it is the stark truth. Lipids (inefficiencies) are clogging the blood vessel (communication) and at the same time, the blood pressure (organizational dissatisfaction due to lack of communication) is high. As uric acid (fatigue felt by the members of the organization) that needs to be discharged remain in the body, many parts of the organization suffer from pain. Even with the infusion of a new energy source (passion of the new employees) the organization loses its vigor. The brain is slow to function and the decision making is delayed. Physical movement slows down and in turn, the muscles are weakened and more visceral fat is accumulated.

In other words, the organization is suffering from metabolic syndrome where symptoms of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, obesity and cardiovascular diseases appear all at once. If metabolic syndrome goes untreated, blood vessels can be ruptured, a cardiac arrest may occur and in the end and the patient will suffer brain death or die. The most fundamental prescription for metabolic syndrome is working out. However, in this era of transition, where everything changes too dynamically and too fast, working out alone will not be enough to catch up.

2015 K.E.Y. PLATFORM
There is no panacea for the metabolic syndrome, however, it is possible to change the physical constitution (searching for innovation) by working out (maximizing the use of existing businesses) in accordance with a customized routine fit for each industry, corporation and business model. The outline of the prescription is making an organization ambidextrous.

Creation of ambidextrous organizations has been a hot topic for the last 10 years in the global management society where organizational behavior and innovative leadership are dealt with. In 2013, K.E.Y. PLATFORM has published The Crucial Future in Five Years’. In 2014, a new direction for innovation has been suggested by redefining the business model. In 2015, K.E.Y. PLATFORM will unveil various prescriptions for changing the physical constitution so that organizations can rapidly deal with change in times of transition. We hope this prescription will help organizations get rid of visceral fat and build muscles with ideas that could quickly execute innovation.

Innovation Canvas + Becoming an Ambidextrous Organization
K.E.Y. PLATFORM has covered the global innovative companies in the US, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, China and Japan and interviewed 50 global scholars to identify a methodology that can be used to strengthen the execution power for innovation in an organization and created an ‘Innovation Canvas’. The Innovation Canvas shows how an innovation can be executed on an organizational chart using flows.

For instance, there is a company where highly motivated employees build relationships based on trust, continuously learn, receive recognition from the company and increase their passion. Work efficiency improves, new ideas come up and changes occur. This energy (execution power) moves the organization and generates good business results.

Organizations with a high level of execution power is an ‘Ambidextrous Organization’. They use both of their hands. The right hand maximizes business efficiency to the fullest and reduces risk (exploitation) while the left hand focuses on creative discovery (exploration).

An ambidextrous organization can handle two different structural processes for the execution of innovation at the same time. As it searches for new opportunities and maximizes existing capabilities simultaneously, the management must be equipped with both the managerial leadership as well as innovative leadership. An ambidextrous organization maintains its strengths and competitive advantages through the improvement of their current businesses and at the same time obtain new knowledge and capabilities. They develop new markets with creative products or services.