Connecting the Two Worlds

How do you turn a difficult trade-off into an elegant balancing act? How can leaders introduce new ways of thinking and working into a company and at the same time prioritize the existing business? How can they simultaneously lead innovation projects with contradictory forces? And what mindset do they need for the balance? While Chaps. 3 and 4 present courses of action for either exploitation or exploration, this section lays the groundwork for both. Ambidextrous leadership requires more than the ability to move confidently in one environment or the other. Simultaneity is required of senior leaders: a connective, balancing approach between the worlds is needed. On top, you need a strong, all-connecting vision that puts the current business in the context of the long-term future outlook. That is why we are leaving the ‘red and blue oceans’ behind and head into space in this chapter. Ambidexterity requires a view of the overall system from above. This chapter uses case studies, interviews and possible courses of action to show how you as a leader can navigate yourself and your teams through two worlds. At the same time, the question of mindset is answered—how do ambidextrous leaders think and act? All findings are based on research and case studies in the German mechanical engineering industry and can be applied to other sectors and industries. The scientifically based communication model of ambidextrous leadership presented in Chap. 2 forms the basis of the following section.