By Andy Loignon, Diane Bergeron
Center for Creative Leadership
Stephen Zaccaro
H. Smith Richardson, Jr. Vising Fellow
George Mason University
Summary
Systems, as interconnected sets of elements organized to achieve objectives, are ubiquitous in organizations. These systems encompass individuals, teams, divisions, departments, and external stakeholders, all working together toward shared outcomes. However, influencing organizational systems is inherently complex, presenting unique challenges for senior leaders. One promising approach to navigating this complexity is the framework of organizational ambidexterity, which emphasizes the pursuit of exploration (discovering new resources and information for future performance) and exploitation (refining and implementing existing resources for current performance). While both activities are essential for a system’s survival, an inherent tension exists between them, requiring leaders to carefully manage this tradeoff to foster organizational effectiveness.
Drawing on data from The Center for Creative Leadership’s Looking Glass™ leadership simulation and the HiFi Conversation Analytics™ system, our findings reveal that individuals tend to prioritize exploitation over exploration, often at the expense of organizational ambidexterity. Senior leaders, in particular, were the least likely group to balance both activities, underscoring the challenges of leading systems toward ambidexterity. Moreover, we found that team outcomes, such as Alignment (the integration of team members’ work) and Commitment (prioritizing collective goals over individual objectives), are at their highest when team members engage in both exploration and exploitation activities. These findings highlight the natural bias of organizational systems against ambidexterity and the intentional effort required to lead effectively within such systems.
To facilitate such efforts, we propose a framework for ambidextrous leadership, which focuses on creating the conditions for exploration and exploitation to occur. Unlike ambidexterity, which reflects individual behaviors within a system, ambidextrous leadership emphasizes how leaders can design systems to enable these dual activities. By providing actionable practices tied to specific organizational capabilities, we aim to help senior leaders view ambidexterity not as a problem to solve but as a tension to manage. Our recommendations underscore the importance of collaboration across organizational levels, offering practical strategies to enhance system effectiveness and ensure the survival and growth of organizational systems in increasingly complex environments.
Citation
Loignon, A.C., Bergeron.D, & Zaccaro, S. (2025). Leading the system by achieving organizational ambidexterity. Center for Creative Leadership. https://doi.org/10.35613/ccl.2025.2068
