In your personal life, there are moments when you might lose focus because your eyes are on something else. We don’t have the hands or parallel-processing power to have much on your plates. That’s why many specialists argue that people can’t really “multi-task.” And, yes, using a cell phone will impair your driving ability.

When we talk about organizations, something similar happens -especially when we talk about small or medium-sized ones. At present, any organization needs to service its clients and fulfill all its promises; this is the basic requirement for keeping any balance sheet balanced. However, another thing that companies need to keep an eye on is the future. Changes need to be made, processes need to be improved and/or redesigned, people need to be hired, new products (services or goods) need to be planned, etc. How can I aim at the future when all my resources are allocated to deliver our current promises and make the company survive?

Just like humans, organizations can’t focus on too many things simultaneously. Resources are limited, and I can’t compromise my survival today by thinking about a future that may never come, right? Similarly, how can I anticipate tendencies or be ready to overcome competition in the future if I’m not planning for that?

This problem is extremely common in organizations of all sizes, even when those companies are not paying attention. At any moment, companies usually pay attention to one of those two focuses -the present or the future- while the other is relegated to when “something happens.” And if lines such as “Ah, crap, that client’s delivery will be late” or “Hm, we were not anticipating that turn in the market” are common occurrences in your organization, I might be talking about you.

A company’s ability to pay due attention (and deliver) in the present while also considering and preparing for the future is known as “organizational ambidexterity,” and, just like any ability, it can be developed.

Most companies’ leadership teams will be primarily busy firefighting or fixing issues and putting order into chaos. This will take most of their time and prevent them from focusing on other activities, such as watching market tendencies, developing team members, or reviewing workflows. Therefore, those companies are underprepared (or unprepared at all) once the future arrives, and the infinite cycle of “solving today’s issues and focusing on the future later” never ends. Those organizations are used to that.

Parallely, companies that spend their time and resources thinking about new products, new markets, and what might come might end up losing track of the present, not producing or delivering what needs to be delivered now. This will make them lose clients or never have them to begin with. Thinking about these situations, it’s clearly imperative that those organizations’ leaders need to adequate how they manage and run their businesses in order to survive and thrive.

Acquiring “organizational ambidexterity,” despite not being impossible, is a project that demands attention, energy, and intention. This process will usually start with a complete overhaul of the current operations: Which team members are allocated to which task? How is each workflow designed, and are they being executed as expected? What are the current issues that clients and employees are facing? What are our current performance metrics, and how are we doing in them? And, finally, are we delivering what our strategic plans describe (by the way, do we have strategic planning?)?

By digging deep into the organization’s current state, enough input should be available to list -and later execute- what needs to be fixed for the present to run satisfactorily. If properly implemented, these fixes should give an appropriate pattern for the current operations, let the manager focus solely on odd cases that escape the planned flows, and free up time for the management team to consider future plans and improvements.

Now, thinking about the future can and should not be a random exercise of imagining how the next months or years can be. Similarly to how we seek to bring order to the organization’s present, planning what’s to come needs a pattern and order. Specific research and development processes must be in place, information sources must be listed, and a specific strategic plan should be defined. Additionally, are we using specific tools? What resources are available to change/innovate? Who will be responsible for each step or stage? Do we want to optimize and change what we currently have, or do we aim to create new things?

Little will be accomplished if we just transfer the current chaos to the tasks related to the future steps.

So, in summary, the organization needs to seek standards. The present should follow guides, and the future must be pursued orderly. This doesn’t mean that things should be rigid, mainly because that would likely kill innovation initiatives, but even creativity can be aided by some well-built patterns. Plenty of innovation tools can help with creation and innovation in any organization while keeping the current workflows organized.

Making an organization ambidextrous is not an easy task, but one of the most reliable ways to make it “future-proof.”

Do you want to learn how to optimize your business in Oxford County, or any other part of Southern Ontario? Talk to us!