Ambidexterity is the leader’s Job One and comprises: 1) Protecting the core business with Lean/OpEx, and 2) Igniting new Growth using Digital methods. Ambidexterity does not come easy. Here is the 5th in a series on the battles we have to win.
The deadly risks of
our day are Volatility, Black Swans, and Obsolescence. Doing nothing is
our riskiest option. When the ocean is in furious flux, alertness, agility and
speed are of the essence, and ambidexterity is their clearest
expression.
Ignorance, Fear, Scatter, Guesswork and
Space. These are the ‘battles’ we have to win. Today I’ll talk about Space,
summarize key lessons in the series.
Space
Whether we’re
protecting our core business with Lean/OpEx, or igniting new growth with
Digital, we have to make space for transformation – physical, temporal, financial,
strategic, cultural and psychological space. Otherwise, corporate antibodies
are likely to shut us down. Indeed,
(infamously) between 70 to 90% of both Lean/OpEx, and Digital transformations
fail to meet their targets. If we do not create space for change, the blockers
usually win. If we do not protect that space, the blockers always win.
Physical, Temporal, and Financial Space
A core element of my
innovation work (aka ‘Smart Growth’) entails building a ‘Showcase’ wherein a
selected, capable, motivated, 3H team of high achievers demonstrates a new way of
working – and produces kick-ass results. And so, we need a dedicated physical
space (aka Maker’s Space, Learning Lab, Incubator, Accelerator, Innovation Hub)
wherein the team & the rest of the organization can learn by doing. We also
need to carve out time, and a dedicated budget. For example, Lean
experimentation & growth hacking entail landing pages, ads, explainer
videos and the like through which we test & validate our hypotheses.
Building an ecosystem of providers is in my experience the best, quickest &
most effective way to doing so.
Strategic, Cultural, and Psychological Space
Strategic space means
our strategy and its physical expressions (Obeya, Control Tower, Team Boards
and so on) explicitly outline our Innovation targets and activities. Our visual
expressions of Strategy reflect our commitment to ambidexterity: the is
dedicated space for 1) protecting the core business, and 2) igniting new
Growth. The latter usually entails
visual management showing the purpose, and status of our Innovation portfolio.
Cultural and
psychological space means that senior leaders and the Board tirelessly express
their commitment to working in a new way. DBS Bank (often cited as the ‘World’s
Best Digital Bank’) is a good example. The bank’s Board & CEO, Piyush
Gupta, have been the living expression DBS’ winning logic: Close to the
customer; 30,000-person startup; Digital to the core. I can confirm that
team members across the organization understand & accept the winning
logic. (I’ve randomly asked a few dozen
of them over the years)
Transformation Blockers are a Syndrome
Our five blockers
comprise a ‘syndrome’, in other words, a pattern of symptoms that reflect a
specific pathology. Each blocker reinforces the others, making change
particularly challenging. For example, Ignorance triggers Fear, which triggers
Guesswork, which triggers Scatter. And these in turn compromise the physical,
temporal and financial space needed to work in a new way. And that’s why 70 to
90 percent of transformation efforts fail to meet their objectives.
It's a heck of a problem, but it can be solved. That’s why I’m writing these articles.
Best wishes,
Pascal Dennis E: pascal.dennis@leansystems.org
In case you missed earlier blogs... please feel free to have another look….
Transformation - the Battles We Have to Win - Ignorance
Transformation - the Battles We Have to Win
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