—

The Ambidextrous CEO is a smart piece in HBR looking at how leaders should think about innovation. The authors studied management teams at 12 major companies and outline three principles to help leaders balance the demands of balancing investment in the new with sustaining the existing:

1. Engage the senior team around a forward-looking strategic aspiration.
2. Explicitly hold the tension between the demands of innovation units and the core business at the top of the organization.
3. Embrace inconsistency by maintaining multiple and often conflicting strategic agendas.

With some interesting examples and great stories (Ray Stata, CEO of Analog Devices, built a soundproofed room off his own office for shouting matches between his leaders!) this is a smart analysis and useful checklist for thinking about innovation.