Individual Ambidexterity and Entrepreneurship
Ambidexterity Theory: The Art of Balancing Innovation and Execution
Why do some individuals excel at navigating uncertainty while others struggle? The answer may lie in their ability to be "Ambidextrous"—the mental agility to manage two contradictory thought processes at the same time.
While this theory originated in organizational behavior, it has become a critical framework for understanding successful entrepreneurship. It suggests that a founder cannot just be a "dreamer" or a "doer"—they must be both.
Exploration vs. Exploitation
According to March (1991), organizational learning requires a delicate balance between two distinct activities. Mom et al. (2015) propose that individuals are ambidextrous if they are effectively involved in both:
- Exploration: Activities such as search, play, experimentation, ideation, and radical innovation. (The "Dreaming" phase).
- Exploitation: Activities such as refinement, execution, selection, implementation, and incremental improvement. (The "Doing" phase).
The Ambidextrous Entrepreneur
Successful entrepreneurs display ambidextrous behaviors. They must shift focus from exploration to exploitation and vice versa as the situation requires (Volery et al., 2013).
The entrepreneurial process is often conceptualized as stage-based. Kazanjian and Drazin (1990) suggest that:
- Early Stages (Conception): Require high levels of Exploration to find product-market fit.
- Later Stages (Growth/Stability): Require high levels of Exploitation to scale processes and manage costs.
A founder who can only do one or the other is often destined to fail, or must quickly hire a partner who compensates for their deficiency.
Developing the Skill in Corporate Settings
Yeganegi et al. (2019) propose that an individual's experience within a corporate job serves as a training ground for this skill.
When employees are exposed to both exploration and exploitation tasks at work (individual-level ambidexterity), they are essentially "mimicking" the startup process. Seeing the whole cycle of business activity—from idea generation to operational execution—enables individuals to:
- Better recognize high-quality opportunities.
- Reduce uncertainty about business mechanics.
- Increase "Self-Efficacy" (the belief that they can succeed).
The study suggests that this dual exposure is a key driver of entrepreneurial readiness, regardless of whether the individual chooses to launch a venture immediately or innovate within their current firm.
The Role of Organizational Context
Not all environments foster this skill. Gibson and Birkinshaw (2004) distinguish between two types of organizational structures:
- Structural Ambidexterity: Organizations that physically separate teams (e.g., an R&D team that only explores and a Sales team that only exploits). This reduces the chance for individuals to learn both skills.
- Contextual Ambidexterity: Organizations where both exploration and exploitation occur within the same unit. These environments act as incubators, producing highly capable, ambidextrous leaders.
Video: Organizational Ambidexterity Explained
References
Gibson, C. B., & Birkinshaw, J. (2004). The Antecedents, Consequences, and Mediating Role of Organizational Ambidexterity. Academy of Management Journal, 47(2), 209–226.
Kazanjian, R. K., & Drazin, R. (1990). A Stage-Contingent Model of Design and Growth for Technology Based New Ventures. Journal of Business Venturing, 5(3), 137–150.
March, J. G. (1991). Exploration and Exploitation in Organizational Learning. Organization Science, 2(1), 71–87.
Yeganegi, S., Laplume, A. O., Dass, P., & Greidanus, N. S. (2019). Individual‐Level Ambidexterity and Entrepreneurial Entry. Journal of Small Business Management, 57(4).
