| The Roman god Janus had two sets of eyes - | | | | expeditions but otherwise staying out of |
| one pair focusing on what lay behind, the | | | | their way. Others have pointed to |
| other on what lay ahead. General Managers | | | | cross-functional teams as the key to creating |
| and corporate executives should be able to | | | | breakthrough innovations. Still others have |
| relate. They, too, must constantly look | | | | claimed that a company may be able to shift |
| backward, attending to the products and | | | | back and forth between different |
| processes of the past, while also gazing | | | | organizational models, focusing on |
| forward, preparing for the innovations that | | | | exploitation for a period and then moving |
| will define the future. | | | | into exploration mode. |
| | | | |
| This mental balancing act can be one of the | | | | We recently decided to test these and other |
| toughest of all managerial challenges - it | | | | theories by taking a close look at the real |
| requires executives to explore new | | | | world, examining how actual, contemporary |
| opportunities even as they work diligently to | | | | businesses fare when they attempt to pursue |
| exploit existing capabilities - and it's no | | | | innovations that lie beyond their current |
| surprise that few companies do it well. Most | | | | products or markets. Do they succeed in |
| successful enterprises are adept at refining | | | | achieving breakthroughs? Do their existing |
| their current offerings, but they falter when | | | | businesses suffer? What organizational and |
| it comes to pioneering radically new products | | | | managerial structures do they use? What |
| and services. Kodak and Boeing are just two | | | | works, and what doesn't? |
| of the more recent examples of once dominant | | | | |
| companies that have failed to adapt to market | | | | We discovered that some companies have |
| changes. | | | | actually been quite successful at both |
| | | | exploiting the present and exploring the |
| Kodak excelled at analog photography but | | | | future, and as we looked more deeply at them |
| hasn't been able to make the leap to digital | | | | we found that they share important |
| cameras. Boeing, a longtime leader in | | | | characteristics. In particular, they |
| commercial aircraft, has experienced | | | | separate their new, exploratory units from |
| difficulties in its defense-contracting | | | | their traditional, exploitative ones, |
| businesses and has recently stumbled in the | | | | allowing for different processes, structures, |
| face of competition from Airbus. | | | | and cultures; at the same time, they maintain |
| | | | tight links across units at the senior |
| The failure to achieve breakthrough | | | | executive level. |
| innovations while also making steady | | | | |
| improvements to an existing business is so | | | | In other words, they manage organizational |
| commonplace - and so fascinating - that it | | | | separation through a tightly integrated |
| has become a battleground of management | | | | senior team. We call these kinds of |
| thought. For decades, scholars have spun | | | | companies "ambidextrous organizations," and |
| theories to explain the puzzle and offered | | | | we believe they provide a practical and |
| advice on how to solve it. Some have argued | | | | proven model for forward-looking executives |
| that there's no way out of the conundrum, | | | | seeking to pioneer radical or disruptive |
| that established companies simply lack the | | | | innovations while pursuing incremental gains. |
| flexibility to explore new territory. | | | | |
| | | | "The Ambidextrous Organization", Charles A. |
| Some have suggested that big companies adopt | | | | O'Reilly III and Michael L. Tushman, Harvard |
| a venture capital model, funding exploratory | | | | Business Review, April 2004. |