Business Ambidexterity – Where Do We Start?

 Ambidexterity is the senior leader’s Job One. Can we 

1. Protect the core business with OpEx/Lean, and
2. Ignite new Growth using the Digital methods

 Let’s imagine our C-suite & Board are aligned. ‘We need to do this. Where do we start?’

Our mantra is ‘Thing big, start small and scale fast’.

Think Big

Think big means defining your Aspiration & Winning Logic. For example: We want to be the best (fill in the blank) in the world. And here’s our overall approach:

1.     Take out the waste & variation

2.     Get close to the customer, and

3.     Get Digital to the core

Each of these elements must of course be translated & deployed as concrete activities at each level using our management system & the disciplines of Strategy Deployment. Constancy of purpose provides a ballast during the inevitable rough patches.

Start Small

Start small means building a Lighthouse (aka Showcase) project that proves ‘this thing actually flies’. Our showcase project typically entails levelling up a critical customer journey or creating & launching an entirely new offering. Our showcase is also a space – physical, financial, strategic and cultural – wherein a kick-ass innovation team can work in a new way, protected from organizational blockers. Typical goals: 50%+ improvement in launch lead time & cost, customer satisfaction, and profitability. Prerequisites: executive air cover, otherwise the proverbial corporate ‘antibodies’ will shut you down. 

‘New ways of working’ means daily huddles around a team board (either analogue or virtual or both), visual management, weekly planning & review, and data-based decision-making.  No HIPPOs or ZEBRAS[1]. New ways of working also means bi-weekly playbacks for senior leaders, and bi-monthly report outs to a ‘Shark Tank’ who will continue to fund the project (or not) based on demonstrated traction.

How do we pick our Lighthouse (showcase) project?  Start with an internal audit of your core management systems:

·       Voice of the Customer

·       People system

·       Work system, and

·       Management system

Where are the biggest gaps? Which of the candidate projects can help fill these gaps?

Then apply a strategic filter: Is this project aligned with our Aspiration & Winning Logic?  And then or course, do an Ease/Impact assessment.

The Lighthouse project will likely follow the proverbial ‘hockey stick’ curve illustrated above. We need to pass the following tests:

1.     Does it wow? (If not, why build it?)

2.     Can we make money? (Kind of essential)

3.     Does it work?

The third questions entails two levels of scaling Can we scale our showcase across the target markets? Can we scale our new ways of working across the organization?

Best wishes,

Pascal    E: pascal.dennis@leansystems.org

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[1] Highest paid person’s opinion; Zero expertise, but really arrogant.