Известные амбидекстры: 10 знаменитых амбидекстров, которые особо это не афишировали и преуспели в другом

Амбидекстр (от лат. ambo — «оба» и лат. dextera — «правая рука») — это человек с одинаково развитыми полушариями мозга. Отсутствие доминанты приводит к тому, что он может одинаково хорошо работать как левой, так и правой рукой.

Самым известным амбидекстром был Леонардо да Винчи. Он рисовал обеими руками и был талантлив в живописи, музыке, математике и инженерии. Среди амбидекстров также — академик Андрей Сахаров, музыкант Джимми Хендрикс, президент США Гарри Трумэн, художник и мультипликатор Владимир Сутеев, изобретатель Никола Тесла, актёр Том Круз, теннисистка Мария Шарапова, певица Мирей Матье и многие другие.

Какое преимущество даёт амбидекстрия человеку?

Равное развитие функций обеих рук даёт возможность человеку выполнять двигательные действия правой и левой рукой с одинаковой скоростью и эффективностью. Такие люди достаточно быстро оценивают ситуацию и быстро принимают решения.

На сегодняшний день амбидекстров насчитывается менее 10% среди мужчин и около 15% среди женщин.

Можно ли развить двурукость?

Да, можно. Навык может быть как врождённый, так и наработанный, его можно развивать и совершенствовать, что и используется при подготовке высококлассных спортсменов, разведчиков, воинов боевых искусств.

Чтобы развить в себе двурукость, достаточно выполнять простые упражнения: одной рукой прикоснитесь к кончику носа, а другой — к мочке уха. Затем постарайтесь быстро менять руки. Или, например, другое задание: возьмите в обе руки по карандашу и попытайтесь одновременно рисовать различные предметы.

За что отвечают разные полушария мозга у человека?

Левое полушарие мозга отвечает за логику, организацию, математические способности и контролирует правую часть тела (из-за перекреста нейронов в мозолистом теле). Правое полушарие более «творческое», оно отвечает за интуитивное и чувственное восприятие, контролирует левую половину тела.

Функции левого полушария:

– обработка вербальной информации,

– аналитическое мышление,

– буквальное понимание слов,

– последовательное (поэтапное) мышление,

– математические способности,

– логика,

– абстракция,

– предприимчивость (поиск новых способностей, возможностей).

Функции правого полушария:

– интуиция,

– символы, образы,

– видение цельной картины (одновременно много разной информации),

– музыкальность,

– интонация речи,

– метафоры,

– воображение,

– художественные способности,

– эмоции,

– секс,

– мистика,

– мечты.

Смотрите также:

Амбидекстр: кто это такой?

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В наше время уже не наказывают за то, что пишешь левой рукой, на такого человека не косятся украдкой, не поражаются «Ты что, левша?!». Более того, уже повсеместно говорят о пользе обучения письму неведущей рукой. Однако, несмотря на это, сама амбидекстрия всё ещё вызывает удивление и лёгкое непонимание.

Мы издревле привыкли, что правая рука – ведущая, главная. Сейчас уже привыкли, что может быть и левая рука главной. Мы понимаем и знаем, что у левшей и правшей несколько по-разному настроен мозг, что различается восприятие мира и психологическая основа человека. Потому что каждое полушарие мозга отвечает за свой набор функций. Что с правшами, что с левшами понятно – этот человек обладает соответствующими ведущему полушарию мозга функциями в большей степени. А что же происходит с амбидекстром? Ведь амбидекстр – человек, владеющий одинаково хорошо обеими руками, тем самым у него нет ведущей руки — это получается тот, у кого оба полушария мозга работают одинаково? Он получается сверхчеловек что ли?

Амбидекстрия бывает врождённой и той, которую человек развил сам. Например, тренируя письмо неведущей рукой. Конечно, такое умение влияет на работу мозга, но больше всего интересных моментов в работе мозга (а значит и психики) у тех, кто амбидекстр от рождения. Поэтому мы сегодня обсудим подробно врождённую амбидекстрию.

Сколько всего в мире амбидекстров? Цифры колеблются, учёные на данный момент полагают, что правшей у нас 84-90%, левшей 9-15% и 1% детей наблюдают с врождённой амбидекстрией. При этом отмечают рост амбидекстров, прогнозируя скорые 10% от общего населения планеты.

Сейчас это качество кажется положительным и желаемым многими. Например, хирурги мечтают одинаково владеть двумя руками, повышая тем самым свою эффективность. Да и просто для себя много кто развивает такое качество, однако сильных изменений в мозговой деятельности не будет. Да и в физиологии в целом тоже. Почему? Потому что врождённая амбидекстрия наделяет не только «двурукостью», но и второй толчковой ногой, вторым тонкораспознающим ухом, вторым прицельным глазом. 

То есть у амбидекстра все органы одинаково работают, нет главного, ведущего. Они с лёгкостью меняют руку, ногу или прицеливаются другим глазом, не теряя при этом результата. Их мозг при этом способен также легко менять функции полушарий. У такого человека есть возможность создавать интересные привычки: всегда писать на доске или асфальте правой рукой, в тетради – левой. А остальное делать как придётся. Или же писать только левой, а рисовать исключительно правой. При этом люди не теряют свойств амбидекстра, ведь они с лёгкостью могут при желании сменить руки в таких действиях, оставив те же качество и скорость выполнения задачи. Если у правши или левши звучит фраза «мне так удобно, я другой рукой не умею», то амбидекстр скажет: «мне без разницы, какой рукой выполнять задание».

У амбидекстра перекрёстная работа обоих полушарий – то есть оба полушария одинаково распределяют функции между собой (нет логического и творческого полушарий), а в случае чего могут поменяться функциями, так сказать. Благодаря этому амбидекстры обладают интересной способностью – иметь знание без получения информации. То есть они так интуитивно развиты и у них настолько сильна восприимчивость, что знания они просто черпают из воздуха. На самом деле они просто мгновенно считывают и анализируют информацию, так что магии здесь нет. Правша или левша видит мир не полностью, несколько фрагментарно, наблюдая лишь одну составляющую, а амбидекстр воспринимает всю картину события целиком, считывая и анализируя весь комплекс понятий. 

Из-за этой особенности на амбидекстров накладывается чрезмерная психоэмоциональная и нервная нагрузки, что может приводить к самым настоящим срывам! Учитывая вышесказанную особенность, многие полагают, что абмидекстрия является залогом гениальности. Это не совсем верно, потому как сам по себе факт наличия или отсутствия ведущего полушария не даёт никаких гарантий того, что человек стопроцентно будет гением. Однако, при всех общих вводных (развитие своих способностей, одинаковые условия для обучения, работа над собой) у амбидекстра в разы выше возможность реализации своих способностей. Так как умение спокойно переключаться с работы одного полушария на другое, а то и вовсе включать процессы одинаково в обоих полушариях увеличивает объём долговременной памяти, помогая усваивать больше информации, нежели однополушарные люди, то есть амбидекстр может спокойно заниматься несколько разноплановыми задачами быстрее, а также увеличивается и скорость обработки информации.

Таким образом амбидекстр теоретически способен на большие научные открытия, чем остальные. Помимо прочего такие навыки полезны в быту, в спорте и просто в жизни. Правда этот плюс оттеняется тем, что необычный способ усваивания информации и работы над ней может показаться проявлением некой недоразвитости или психическим отклонением. Особенно это ощущение навязывают родителям ребёнка-амбидекстра в школе. Однако если немножко изменить систему обучения, то ребёнок проявит себя по максимуму, выдавая потрясающие результаты!

Говоря об активных минусах амбидекстрии первоочерёдно выделяют гиперактивность, синдром дефицита внимания (чаще встречается у амбидекстров нежели у однополушарных детей), наличие внутренних конфликтов на почве противоречий, повышенная эмоциональность, некая капризность, иногда обидчивость. Такие люди кажутся непостоянными, так как быстрее других могут менять своё мнение, обладают некой двоякостью в суждениях, в мировоззрении, в проживаемых эмоциях.

В школьном возрасте могут быть проблемы с поведением, так как амбидекстры быстрее схватывают информацию, после чего им становится нестерпимо скучно. Имея зачастую более свободный от общих установок и шаблонов характер эти дети спокойно проявляют себя и свои состояния. Из-за этого их поведение в целом непредсказуемо и такая линия поведения сохраняется на протяжении всей жизни. Также стоит понимать, что особенности работы мозга влияют и на выдаваемую в активное сознание информацию. Так, к примеру, ребёнок-амбидекстр может поменять бытовые привычки (то забывает помыть посуду, но заправляет постель, то наоборот). 

И взрослые, и дети с врождённой амбидекстрией часто могут забывать то, что ещё вчера знали. А потом опять вспомнить это. К примеру, вчера ребёнок знал решение задачи по геометрии, а сегодня будто в первый раз видит. Или взрослый, отличающийся невероятной грамотностью, сидит и думает над простым словом, решая, где в слове «молоко» должны быть буквы «а». Чаще других у таких людей могут вылетать из головы простые слова, но зато как искусно они объясняются! «Жена мужской парнокопытной особи» — это то, что вполне можно услышать от амбидекстра вместо привычной простым людям «коровы». Это всё проявления дисграфии и дислексии, которые также являются одной из теневых сторон амбидекстра.

Стоит ли пытаться исправить сложности характера и намечающиеся особенности типа дисграфии путём насильственного переучивания владеть только одной рукой? Нет, даже и думать об этом не нужно! Потому что такой подход только усугубит ситуацию, запустив непоправимые изменения в работе мозга и гипертрофируя минусовые стороны амбидекстрии.

Более того, если учитывать тот факт, что среди врождённых амбидекстров больше процент шизофреников, чем у однополушарных людей, то необходимо понимать, что такое грубое вмешательство в работу мозга скорее всего повлечёт за собой сильные изменения в психике. Если у вас родился такой ребёнок, то лучшим решением будет позволить ему жить и развиваться так, как заложено природой, помогая реализовывать его таланты. Познавайте мир вместе с ребёнком, он откроет вам новые грани! Если же вы взрослый, являющийся амбидекстром, то не мучайте себя, примите свою особенность, живите полной жизнью, ведь у вас есть для этого все предпосылки!

Как видим, амбидекстрия – это интересное явление, оказывающее влияние и на физическом уровне, и на психическом. Да, оно имеет свои минусы, но зато сколько плюсов! Позвольте себе и окружающим быть такими, как задумала природа. И наслаждайтесь реальностью!

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​Какого человека называют амбидекстр? Vovet.ru

Амбидекстры — кто они?

Люди могут быть правшами и левшами — это нам известно хорошо.

А вот такое уникальное явление, как амбидекстр, известно не всем.

Амбидекстрия — это умение легко владеть как правой, так и левой рукой. Обычно человек рождается со способностями амбидекстрии, но где-то к годам к четырем, когда все вокруг показывают ему «как надо», утрачивает ее, и у него остается ведущей только одна рука. Но некоторые люди имеют эту уникальную способность всю жизнь.

Правша, левша или…?

Функциональные приоритеты наших рук связаны с работой головного мозга.

• Правша.
  Обычно рабочая правая рука говорит о том, что у человека более развито левое полушарие. отвечающее за логическое мышление.
• Левша.
  Рабочая левая рука — это развитие интуиции и соответственно правого полушария мозга.

Амбидекстр.
Равная работа двух полушарий. Вся информация, которая поступает в мозг, обрабатывается параллельно сразу в двух полушариях, что способствует быстрой оценке ситуации и принятию решений. Возможностью владеть в одинаковой степени левой и правой половиной тела и парными органами чувств.
Амбидекстр способен, например, владеть одинаково хорошо разными руками по очереди и одновременно, расходясь и сходясь из разных сторон, рисовать, есть, играть, работать.

Амбидекстрия — приобретенное или врожденное?

• Как мы уже говорили, что встречаются люди, которые с рождения могут владеть одинаково обеими руками, и не только на письме.

Но также можно и развить в себе умение владеть обеими руками в равной степени. Это результат упорных и долгих тренировок. В средние века особенно ценилось это умение во владении оружием.

• Может быть принудительное приобретение данного навыка. Когда пытаются левшу переучить пользоваться правой рукой.
  Это связано с огромным психологическим напряжением и не всегда приводит к нужным результатам.

Известные амбидекстры:

• Леонардо да Винчи;
• Пол Маккартни;
• Ринго Старр;
• Бенджамин Франклин;
• Никола Тесла;
• Киану Ривз.

Заглянем еще и сюда:

90000 List of 11 Famous Ambidextrous People 90001 90002 Ambidextrous people can use both left and right limbs with equal proficiency. Found very rarely, some celebrities and sportspersons are ambidextrous. Know more about them in this Entertainism post. 90003
90004 Did You Know? 90005
90002 90007 Ambi 90008 means both, and 90007 dextrous 90008 means right or favorable. Basically, the word means «both right.» 90003
90002 Halfway through a tediously long research paper, I could not help wishing I could write the remaining paper with my left hand.That is, I could use both my left and right hands equally well. Unfortunately, I am not blessed with this amazing quality, but a small percentage of people are. 1% of the total population, to be precise, are ambidextrous. 90003
90002 But there’s still hope for beings like us, as you can train your limbs to be equally adept at all tasks. That’s gonna take a lot of effort. Till then, why do not you go through this list of famous ambidextrous people. Some of them were naturals, while some actually trained themselves to be ambidextrous.Celebrities, athletes, politicians, and painters, all figure in this coveted list. Read on. 90003
90016 Famous Ambidextrous People 90017
90004 Maria Sharapova 90005

90020

90002 90022 Date of Birth 90023 90022: 90023 19th April 1987 90003
90002 90022 About 90023 90022: 90023 She is a Russian tennis player, who has 5 Grand Slam titles and 35 singles titles on her name. She has featured in Time Magazine’s list of 90007 «30 Legends of Women’s Tennis: Past, Present and Future» 90008.She is known for her immense fighting spirit. She was born a lefty, but was taught to play tennis with her right hand. 90003
90002 90022 Famous Quote: 90023 90038 «I want to be different. If everyone is wearing black, I want to be wearing red. » 90039 90003
90004 Rafael Nadal 90005

90043

90002 90022 Date of Birth 90023 90022: 90023 3rd June, 1986 90003
90002 90022 About 90023 90022: 90023 He is a Spanish tennis player known as the «King of Clay».He has won 14 Grand Slam singles titles, and is one of the greatest players of tennis. He writes with his right hand, but plays tennis with his left hand. 90003
90002 90022 Famous Quote: 90023 90038 «If you do not lose, you can not enjoy the victories. So I have to accept both things. » 90039 90003
90004 Ringo Starr 90005

90064

90002 90022 Date of Birth 90023 90022: 90023 7th July 1940 90003
90002 90022 About 90023 90022: 90023 Richard Starkey, popularly known as Ringo Starr is a drummer, singer, songwriter, and actor.He was the drummer of the iconic band The Beatles. 90003
90002 90022 Famous Quote: 90023 90038 «I feel the older I get, the more I’m learning to handle life. Being on this quest for a long time, it’s all about finding yourself. » 90039 90003
90004 Cristiano Ronaldo 90005

90085

90002 90022 Date of Birth 90023 90022: 90023 5th February одна тисяча дев’ятсот вісімдесят п’ять 90003
90002 90022 About 90023 90022: 90023 He is a Portuguese football player, and is considered by many as the greatest in the game.He is the captain of the national team, and plays for Spanish club Real Madrid C.F. He can play with both his feet, and that gives him an advantage over his rivals. 90003
90002 90022 Famous Quote: 90023 90038 «I have my flaws too, but I am a professional who does not like to miss or lose.» 90039 90003
90004 Albert Einstein 90005

90106

90002 90022 Date of Birth 90023 90022: 90023 14th March, 1879 90003
90002 90022 About 90023 90022: 90023 Theoretical physicist, mathematician, and author, Albert Einstein is known to everyone as a phenomenal genius.His contribution to theoretical physics is unparalleled. In 1921 he received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work. After his death, scientists studied his brain and found that the two hemispheres in his brain were symmetric, which shows that he was ambidextrous. According to some sources, he had a dominant left hand, but was trained to write with his right hand as a child. 90003
90002 90022 Famous Quote: 90023 90038 «You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.»90039 90003
90004 Mahatma Gandhi 90005

90127

90002 90022 Date of Birth 90023 90022: 90023 2nd October, 1869 90003
90002 90022 About 90023 90022: 90023 Fondly called «Bapu» or the «Father of the Nation», he was a prominent leader in the Indian independence struggle. He advocated ahimsa (non-violence) all his life, and is truly an inspiration for many. Not many people were aware that he could write with both his hands.90003
90002 90022 Famous Quote: 90023 90038 «First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.» 90039 90003
90004 Benjamin Franklin 90005
90002 90022 Date of Birth 90023 90022: 90023 17th January, 1706 90003
90002 90022 About 90023 90022: 90023 Politician, scientist, diplomat, and printer 90159 Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He was also an inventor, who invented bifocals, the lightning rod, and the Franklin stove.This renowned polymath was an accomplished author, editor, and printer. 90003
90002 90022 Famous Quote: 90023 90038 «Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn. » 90039 90003
90004 Nikola Tesla 90005
90002 90022 Date of Birth 90023 90022: 90023 10th July 1856 90003
90002 90022 About 90023 90022: 90023 He was an inventor, engineer, physicist and futurist. The SI unit of magnetic flux density, 90007 tesla 90008, was named after him. He was famous for his photographic memory, and was a voracious reader.According to some sources, he slept for just two hours everyday. Although many women were madly in love with him, he never married. 90003
90002 90022 Famous Quote: 90023 90038 «Our virtues and our failings are inseparable, like force and matter. When they separate, man is no more. » 90039 90003
90004 Leonardo da Vinci 90005

90191

90002 90022 Date of Birth 90023 90022: 90023 15th April, 1452 90003
90002 90022 About 90023 90022: 90023 Leonardo da Vinci had varied talents.He was an Italian polymath, and perhaps the greatest painter in the world. He was a mathematician, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, inventor, and a lot more! It should not be a surprise that he was ambidextrous considering his multiple talents. 90003
90002 90022 Famous Quote: 90023 90038 «It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things. » 90039 90003
90004 Kobe Bryant 90005
90002 90022 Date of Birth 90023 90022: 90023 23rd August, 1978 90003
90002 90022 About 90023 90022: 90023 He is an American professional basketball player.He has won five NBA championships, and plays for the Los Angeles Lakers. He was already famous as one of the best basketball players when in high school. 90003
90002 90022 Famous Quote: 90023 90038 «I do not want to be the next Michael Jordan, I only want to be Kobe Bryant.» 90039 90003
90004 Billy Wagner 90005
90002 90022 Date of Birth 90023 90022: 90023 25th July, 1971 90003
90002 90022 About 90023 90022: 90023 Billy Wagner is a renowned baseball pitcher. He has accumulated more than 400 saves in his career.He had a naturally dominant right hand, but he injured it in a couple of accidents, and hence started using his left hand to throw. 90003
90002 90022 Famous Quote: 90023 90038 «Whenever I get into a tough situation … I think of growing up, and I say, ‘This situation will not be the worst one I’ve ever been in.» 90039 90003
90002 Some other famous ambidextrous personalities are Peter Rose, Sachin Tendulkar, LeBron James, Derrick Rose, Luke Jensen, Brett Cecil, etc. 90003
.90000 meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary 90001

AMBIDEXTROUS | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary

90002
Examples from literature
90003 90004 A man who is ambidextrous will sign his name differently with his right or left hand, but it is the same signature.90005 90004 I know that Primitive Man was ambidextrous, because he wrote and painted just as often with his left as with his right, and just as successfully. 90005 90004 In the use of the birch he was ambidextrous. 90005 90004 Inquiry should be made as to whether the patient is right or left handed, or ambidextrous. 90005 90012 90013.90000 The Ambidextrous Organization 90001

90002 The Idea in Brief 90003

90004 What’s the secret to developing the breakthrough innovations you need to stay competitive-while also protecting your traditional businesses? Create organizationally distinct units-but tightly integrate them at the senior executive level. 90005
90004 90007 Ambidextrous organizations 90008 segregate exploratory units from their traditional units, encouraging them to develop their own unique processes, structures, and cultures.But they also tightly coordinate these new units with existing organizations at the senior management level. Top-level integration ensures that fledgling units have access to established resources-cash, talent, customers-and simultaneously shields them from the innovation-chilling effects of «business as usual.» Meanwhile, existing units-freed from the distractions of a start-up-can maintain their focus on refining operations, improving products, and serving customers. 90005
90004 Companies that use ambidextrous structures are 90011 nine times 90012 more likely to create breakthrough products and processes than those using other organizational structures-while sustaining or even improving their existing businesses.90005
90004 The Idea in Practice 90005
90004 Consider these examples of ambidextrous organizations that have successfully pioneered radical innovations while pursuing incremental gains to their established businesses. 90005
90018 USA Today 90019
90004 When news consumers began turning to television and the Internet in the 1990s, 90011 USA Today 90012 -the United States ‘most widely read daily newspaper-knew it had to go beyond its traditional print business to survive. Initially it created a skunk works operation to launch online news service USAToday.com. But isolated from the print operation, USAToday.com was starved of cash, generated meager results, and began losing talented staff. 90005
90004 President Tom Curley adopted a «network strategy» -combining online, television, and newspaper organizations to promote cross-media content sharing. Units were physically separate, and their staffing models, cultures, and processes were distinct. But Curley insisted that all three enterprises be integrated at the top. The three business heads met daily to review stories and share ideas.They also trained print reporters in TV and Web broadcasting, outfitting them with cameras so they could file stories simultaneously in different media. A «network editor» was hired to help print reporters shape stories for broadcast media. Executives who did not support the new strategy were dismissed. Incentives tied to cross-unit growth targets and willingness to share news content replaced rewards tied to unit results. 90005
90004 During the Internet collapse, when other papers ‘profits plunged, 90011 USA Today 90012 made $ 60 million.90005
90018 Ciba Vision 90019
90004 To beat giant rival Johnson & Johnson, conventional-contact-lens maker Ciba Vision determined to produce a stream of breakthroughs while maintaining its conventional business. President Glenn Bradley created autonomous units for six innovation projects. Each had its own R & D, finance, and marketing functions, as well as distinct processes for hiring, development, and rewards. 90005
90004 To integrate new projects with existing businesses, innovation team leaders reported to one person-the vice president of R & D, who managed trade-offs and conflicts between the old business and new units.Innovation project leaders also attended executive-team meetings with established business heads. 90005
90004 Moreover, Bradley enunciated a new vision statement- «Healthy Eyes for Life» -that inspired cross-company teamwork by underscoring connections between the breakthrough initiatives and its conventional operations. Ciba Vision also revamped its incentive system, rewarding managers primarily for 90011 overall 90012 company performance-not individual units ‘. 90005
90004 Ciba’s ambidextrous approach paid off.It successfully introduced several new contact lenses, a macular-degeneration treatment, and a low-cost manufacturing process, while maintaining a profitable business for its conventional lenses. Ciba overtook J & J in some market segments, and over the next ten years, its annual revenues grew from $ 300 million to more than $ 1 billion. 90005

90004 The Roman god Janus had two sets of eyes-one pair focusing on what lay behind, the other on what lay ahead. General managers and corporate executives should be able to relate.They, too, must constantly look backward, attending to the products and processes of the past, while also gazing forward, preparing for the innovations that will define the future. 90005
90004 This mental balancing act can be one of the toughest of all managerial challenges-it requires executives to explore new opportunities even as they work diligently to exploit existing capabilities-and it’s no surprise that few companies do it well. Most successful enterprises are adept at refining their current offerings, but they falter when it comes to pioneering radically new products and services.Kodak and Boeing are just two of the more recent examples of once dominant companies that failed to adapt to market changes. Kodak excelled at analog photography but has not been able to make the leap to digital cameras. Boeing, a longtime leader in commercial aircraft, has experienced difficulties in its defense-contracting businesses and has recently stumbled in the face of competition from Airbus. 90005
90004 The failure to achieve breakthrough innovations while also making steady improvements to an existing business is so commonplace-and so fascinating-that it has become a battleground of management thought.For decades, scholars have spun theories to explain the puzzle and offered advice on how to solve it. Some have argued that there’s no way out of the conundrum-that established companies simply lack the flexibility to explore new territory. Some have suggested that big companies adopt a venture capital model, funding exploratory expeditions but otherwise staying out of their way. Others have pointed to cross-functional teams as the key to creating breakthrough innovations. Still others have claimed that a company may be able to shift back and forth between different organizational models, focusing on exploitation for a period and then moving into exploration mode.90005
90004 We recently decided to test these and other theories by taking a close look at the real world, examining how actual, contemporary businesses fare when they attempt to pursue innovations that lie beyond their current products or markets. Do they succeed in achieving breakthroughs? Do their existing businesses suffer? What organizational and managerial structures do they use? What works, and what does not? 90005
90004 We discovered that some companies have actually been quite successful at both exploiting the present and exploring the future, and as we looked more deeply at them we found that they share important characteristics.In particular, they separate their new, exploratory units from their traditional, exploitative ones, allowing for different processes, structures, and cultures; at the same time, they maintain tight links across units at the senior executive level. In other words, they manage organizational separation through a tightly integrated senior team. We call these kinds of companies «ambidextrous organizations,» and we believe they provide a practical and proven model for forward-looking executives seeking to pioneer radical or disruptive innovations while pursuing incremental gains.A business does not have to escape its past, these cases show, to renew itself for the future. 90005
90018 Exploiting and Exploring 90019
90004 To flourish over the long run, most companies need to maintain a variety of innovation efforts. They must constantly pursue 90011 incremental innovations, 90012 small improvements in their existing products and operations that let them operate more efficiently and deliver ever greater value to customers. An automaker, for example, may frequently tweak a basic engine design to increase horsepower, enhance fuel efficiency, or improve reliability.Companies also have to make 90011 architectural innovations, 90012 applying technological or process advances to fundamentally change some component or element of their business. Capitalizing on the data communication capabilities of the Internet, for instance, a bank can perhaps shift its customer-service call center to a low-labor-cost country like India. Finally, businesses need to come up with 90011 discontinuous innovations 90012 -radical advances like digital photography that profoundly alter the basis for competition in an industry, often rendering old products or ways of working obsolete.90005
90004 All these types of innovation can have different targets. Some may be aimed at a firm’s current customers. Others may be delivered to an existing market that lies beyond a company’s current customer base-a car insurer may create a new kind of policy for boat owners, for instance. Still others may be focused on serving an entirely new market that has yet to be clearly defined-people who download online music, for example. As shown in the exhibit «A Map of Innovation,» the types of innovation and the targeted markets can be plotted in a matrix.90005

90004 In our research with colleagues Wendy Smith, Robert Wood, and George Westerman, we studied how companies pursued innovations throughout this matrix. In particular, we looked for companies that attempted to simultaneously pursue modest, incremental innovations (toward the lower-left area of ​​the matrix) and more dramatic, breakthrough innovations (toward the upper-right area). We ended up focusing on 35 attempts to launch breakthrough innovations undertaken by 15 business units in nine different industries.We studied the structure and results of the breakthrough projects as well as their impact on the operations and performance of the traditional businesses.
90005
90004 Companies tended to structure their breakthrough projects in one of four basic ways. Seven were carried out within existing 90011 functional designs, 90012 completely integrated into the regular organizational and management structure. Nine were set up as 90011 cross-functional teams, 90012 groups operating within the established organization but outside the existing management hierarchy.Four took the form of 90011 unsupported teams, 90012 independent units set up outside the established organization and management hierarchy. And 15 were pursued within 90011 ambidextrous organizations, 90012 where the breakthrough efforts were organized as structurally independent units, each having its own processes, structures, and cultures but integrated into the existing senior management hierarchy. The exhibit «Organizing to Innovate» provides an overview of these four structures. 90005

90004 We tracked the results of the 35 initiatives along two dimensions.First, we determined their success in creating the desired innovations, as measured by either the actual commercial results of a new product or the application of practical market or technical learning. Second, we looked at the performance of the existing business. Did results hold steady, improve, or decline as the firm worked on its breakthroughs? We found that the organizational design and management practices employed had a direct and significant impact on the performance of both the breakthrough initiative and the traditional business.90005

90004 When it came to launching breakthrough products or services, ambidextrous organizations were significantly more successful than the other three structures. While none of the cross-functional or unsupported teams and only a quarter of the functional designs produced real innovations, more than 90% of the ambidextrous organizations achieved their goals. (An exception was breakthrough innovations intended to directly substitute for existing products; in these instances, functional designs performed as well as ambidextrous designs.) 90005

90004 In our study, more than 90% of the ambidextrous organizations achieved their goals. 90005

90004 The superiority of ambidextrous designs became even more apparent when we examined eight cases in which a company originally organized its breakthrough initiative around functional designs, cross-functional teams, or unsupported teams and then shifted to an ambidextrous design. In seven of the eight cases, the initiative’s performance increased substantially after the change.In contrast, three companies started from an ambidextrous design and then moved to one of the others; performance decreased substantially in two of these cases. 90005
90004 When we measured the effects of all 35 initiatives on their existing businesses, we found that ambidextrous organizations were again clearly superior. In almost every instance in which an ambidextrous structure was used, the competitive performance of the existing product either increased or held steady. By contrast, the results of the traditional operations frequently declined where functional designs, cross-functional teams, or unsupported teams were employed.At a theoretical level, it’s easy to explain why ambidextrous organizations would outperform other organizational types. The structure of ambidextrous organizations allows cross-fertilization among units while preventing cross-contamination. The tight coordination at the managerial level enables the fledgling units to share important resources from the traditional units-cash, talent, expertise, customers, and so on-but the organizational separation ensures that the new units ‘distinctive processes, structures, and cultures are not overwhelmed by the forces of «business as usual.»At the same time, the established units are shielded from the distractions of launching new businesses; they can continue to focus all their attention and energy on refining their operations, improving their products, and serving their customers. 90005
90004 But how 90011 exactly 90012 do ambidextrous organizations work? By looking more deeply into the experiences of two such organizations- 90011 USA Today 90012 and Ciba Vision-we can begin to identify the key managerial and organizational characteristics that underpin their ability to both exploit and explore.90005
90018 A Newspaper Reinvents Itself 90019
90004 In the late 1990s, 90011 USA Today 90012 was a thriving business, but it faced an uncertain future. The national newspaper, a division of the Gannett Corporation, had come a long way since its founding in 1982, when its colorful brand of journalism was widely ridiculed by critics. After losing more than half a billion dollars during its first decade, the paper turned its first profit in 1992 and continued to expand rapidly, becoming the most widely read daily newspaper in the United States.With well-heeled business travelers making up the bulk of its subscriber base, it also became an attractive platform for national advertisers, bringing in a steady flow of revenue. 90005
90004 But as the 1990s progressed, storm clouds appeared on the horizon. Newspaper readership was falling steadily, particularly among young people. Competition was heating up, as customers increasingly looked to television and Internet media outlets for news. And newsprint costs were rising rapidly. Tom Curley, 90011 USA Today 90012 ‘s president and publisher, recognized that the company would have to expand beyond its traditional print business to maintain strong growth and profits; such expansion, he realized, would require dramatic innovations.The company would need to find ways to apply its existing news-gathering and editing capabilities to entirely new media.
90005
90004 Acting on his beliefs, Curley in тисяча дев’ятсот дев’яносто п’ять chose Lorraine Cichowski, 90011 USA Today 90012 ‘s general manager of media projects and former editor of the paper’s Money section, to launch an online news service called USAToday.com. He gave her free rein to operate independently from the print business, and she set up a kind of skunk-works operation, bringing in people from outside 90011 USA Today 90012 and housing them on a different floor from the newspaper.She built a fundamentally different kind of organization, with roles and incentives suited to the instantaneous delivery of news and to an entrepreneurial, highly collaborative culture. With Internet use exploding, the venture seemed primed for success. 90005
90004 But results were disappointing. Although USAToday.com was making a small profit by the end of the decade, its growth was sluggish and had little impact on the broader business’s results. The problem, Curley saw, was that the new unit was so isolated from the print operation that it was failing to capitalize on the newspaper’s vast resources.Although Cichowski was a member of Curley’s executive team, she had little support from other members. Viewing her unit as a competitor with the print business, they had little incentive to help her succeed and made few efforts to share their considerable resources with her. Soon, USAToday.com found itself starved of cash, as the newspaper continued to consume most of the available capital, and the online unit began losing talented staff. 90005
90004 Cichowski pushed to have her business spun out entirely from the newspaper, as other companies were doing with their Internet ventures, but Curley had a very different view.He had come to believe that the new unit required not greater separation but greater integration. In 1999 року, he decided that 90011 USA Today 90012 should adopt a «network strategy,» in which it would share news content across three platforms: the newspaper, USAToday.com, and Gannett’s 21 local television stations. Curley described his vision: «We’re no longer in the newspaper business-we’re in the news information space, and we’d better learn to deliver content regardless of form.» 90005
90004 To execute that strategy, Curley knew he had to create an ambidextrous organization that could sustain the print business yet also pursue innovations in broadcasting and online news.So in 2000, he replaced the leader of USAToday.com with another internal executive who was a strong supporter of the network strategy, and he brought in an outsider to create a television operation, USAToday Direct. Both the online and television organizations remained separate from the newspaper, maintaining distinctive processes, structures, and cultures, but Curley demanded that the senior leadership of all three businesses be tightly integrated. Together with Karen Jurgenson, the editor of 90011 USA Today 90012, the heads of the online and television units instituted daily editorial meetings to review stories and assignments, share ideas, and identify other potential synergies.The unit heads quickly saw, for example, that gaining the cooperation of 90011 USA Today 90012 ‘s reporters would be crucial to the success of the strategy (print journalists are notorious for hoarding stories), and they jointly decided to train the print reporters in television and Web broadcasting and outfit them with video cameras so they could file stories simultaneously in the different media. The moves quickly paid off, as the reporters realized that their stories would reach a much broader audience-and that they would have the opportunity to appear on TV.A new position of «network editor» was also created in the newsroom to help reporters shape their stories for broadcast media. 90005
90004 At the same time, Curley made larger changes to the organization and its management. He let go of a number of senior executives who did not share his commitment to the network strategy, ensuring that his team would present a united front and deliver consistent messages to the staff. He also changed the incentive program for executives, replacing unit-specific goals with a common bonus program tied to growth targets across all three media.Human resource policies were changed to promote transfers between the different media units, and promotion and compensation decisions began to take into account people’s willingness to share stories and other content. As part of that effort, a «Friends of the Network» recognition program was established to explicitly reward cross-unit accomplishments. 90005
90004 Yet even as sharing and synergy were being promoted, the organizational integrity of the three units was carefully maintained. The units remained physically separate, and they each pursued very different staffing models.The staff members of USAToday.com were, on average, significantly younger than the newspaper’s reporters and remained far more collaborative and faster paced. Reporters continued to be fiercely independent and to focus on more in-depth coverage of stories than the television staff. 90005

90004 Even as sharing and synergy were being promoted, the organizational integrity of the three units was carefully maintained. 90005

90004 Because of its ambidextrous organization, 90011 USA Today 90012 has continued to compete aggressively in the mature business of daily print news while also developing a strong Internet franchise and providing Gannett television stations with coverage of breaking news.During the Internet collapse, when other papers ‘profits plunged, 90011 USA Today 90012 made $ 60 million, fueled in large part by the company’s ability to continue to attract national advertisers and by revenues from its profitable USAToday.com operation. 90005
90018 A New Lens on Growth 90019
90004 Another company that has used an ambidextrous organization to spur growth through radical innovation is Ciba Vision. Established in the early 1980s as a unit of the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Ciba-Geigy (now Novartis), the Atlanta-based Ciba Vision sells contact lenses and related eye-care products to optometrists and consumers.Although the company produced some innovative new products in its early years, such as the first FDA-approved bifocal contacts, by the mid-1980s it remained a distant second to market leader Johnson & Johnson. Making matters worse, in 1987 J & J brought out a new, disposable contact lens that threatened Ciba Vision’s sales of conventional contacts. By the early 1990s, it was clear to Glenn Bradley, Ciba Vision’s president, that J & J’s dominance provided economies of scale that would doom his company to ever-shrinking profits.Without radically new products, Ciba Vision would slowly decline and ultimately fail. To survive and grow, Bradley saw, his organization would have to continue making money in the mature conventional-contacts business while simultaneously producing a stream of breakthroughs.
90005
90004 In 1991 року, Bradley launched six formal development projects, each focused on a revolutionary change. Four entailed new products, including daily disposables and extended-wear lenses, and two involved new manufacturing processes.In a controversial but necessary move, he canceled dozens of small R & D initiatives for conventional lenses to free up cash for the breakthrough efforts. While the traditional units would continue to pursue incremental innovations on their own, the entire corporate R & D budget would now be dedicated to producing breakthroughs. 90005
90004 Bradley knew that attempting to manage these projects under the constraints of the old organization would not work. Inevitably, conflicts over the allocation of human and financial resources would slow down and disrupt the focus needed for breakthrough innovations.Further, the new manufacturing process required different technical skills, which would make communication across old and new units difficult. He therefore decided to create autonomous units for the new projects, each with its own R & D, finance, and marketing functions, and he chose the project leaders for their willingness to challenge the status quo and their ability to operate independently. 90005
90004 Given the freedom to shape their own organizations, the new units created very different structures, processes, and cultures.The extended-wear team remained in Atlanta, though in a facility separate from the conventional-lens business, while the daily-disposables team was located in Germany. Each team hired its own staff, decided on its own reward system, and chose its own process for moving from development to manufacturing. 90005
90004 But even as Bradley understood the importance of protecting the new units from the processes and cultural norms of the old business, he realized they also had to share expertise and resources, both with the traditional business and with one another.He therefore took a number of steps to integrate management across the company. 90005
90004 First and perhaps most important, he had the leaders of all the breakthrough projects report to a single executive, Adrian Hunter, the vice president of R & D, who had a deep knowledge of the existing business and tight relationships with executives throughout the firm. Working closely with Bradley, Hunter carefully managed the trade-offs and conflicts between the old business and the new units. All the leaders of the innovation projects, moreover, were asked to sit in on Bradley’s executive team meetings.90005
90004 Bradley and his team also enunciated a new vision statement for Ciba Vision- «Healthy Eyes for Life» -that was meaningful to all parts of the business. While this move was largely rhetorical, it had an important effect. It underscored the connections between the breakthrough initiatives and the conventional operation, bringing together all employees in a common cause and preventing organizational separation from turning into organizational fragmentation. As Bradley noted, the slogan gave people a social value as well as an economic reason for working together.Like 90011 USA Today 90012, Ciba Vision also revamped its incentive system, rewarding managers primarily for overall company performance rather than for the results of their particular units. 90005
90004 The ambidexterity paid off. Over the next five years, Ciba Vision successfully launched a series of contact-lens products, introduced a drug for treating age-related macular degeneration, pioneered a new lens-manufacturing process that dramatically reduced production costs, and overtook J & J in some market segments.The conventional-lens business, moreover, remained profitable enough to generate the cash needed to fund the daily disposables and extended-wear lenses. 90005
90004 At the time the new strategy was adopted, Ciba Vision’s annual revenues were stuck at about $ 300 million. Ten years later, its sales had more than tripled, to over $ 1 billion, and the new drug, transferred to Novartis’s pharmaceutical unit, was on its way to becoming a billion-dollar business. More recently, Ciba Vision has continued to reap the benefits of ambidexterity by pioneering so-called fashion lenses that allow people to change the color of their eyes.90005
90018 Becoming Ambidextrous 90019
90004 The stories of 90011 USA Today 90012 and Ciba Vision reveal what it takes to become ambidextrous. (Also see the table «The Scope of the Ambidextrous Organization» for more on what’s required.) One of the most important lessons is that ambidextrous organizations need ambidextrous senior teams and managers-executives who have the ability to understand and be sensitive to the needs of very different kinds of businesses. Combining the attributes of rigorous cost cutters and free-thinking entrepreneurs while maintaining the objectivity required to make difficult trade-offs, such managers are a rare but essential breed.Without people like Tom Curley, Karen Jurgenson, Glenn Bradley, and Adrian Hunter-managers who can be, as one of them put it, «consistently inconsistent» — 90011 USA Today 90012 and Ciba Vision would have had little chance of success. 90005

90004 Another important lesson from the 90011 USA Today 90012 and Ciba Vision stories is that a company’s senior team must be committed to operating ambidextrously even if its members are not ambidextrous themselves. Resistance at the top levels of an organization can not be tolerated, which means that a shift to an ambidextrous organization can be a wrenching experience.90011 USA Today 90012 ‘s Curley dismissed 40% of his executive team. Ciba Vision’s Bradley asked some of the executives overseeing the traditional business to leave when they fought the decision to reallocate R & D investments to the new units. And both leaders backed up their actions with new incentive programs that institutionalized the new management approach. 90005
90004 We have also found that a clear and compelling vision, relentlessly communicated by a company’s senior team, is crucial in building ambidextrous designs.These aspirations provide an overarching goal that permits exploitation and exploration to coexist. Curley’s «network strategy» and Bradley’s «Healthy Eyes for Life» were compelling visions that underscored the strategic necessity of ambidexterity and the benefits for all employees, both those in the traditional units and those in the breakthrough initiatives. 90005

90004 A clear and compelling vision, relentlessly communicated by a company’s senior team, is crucial in building ambidextrous designs.90005

90004 90011 USA Today 90012, well aware of the natural skepticism of newspaper reporters, took a particularly aggressive approach to communicating its new vision, strategy, and organization. Curley launched the effort by appearing at a company meeting dressed as a cyberpunk, complete with blue hair. The message, he recalled, was: «It’s a new world, and we need to be ready to move into it.» Jurgenson began sending daily e-mails to the entire news staff in which she highlighted the concrete accomplishments of the new approach-for example, explaining exactly how one reporter was able to take a story originally intended for the newspaper and get it onto the Web site and the television stations.In addition, all members of the company’s management committee were expected to hold weekly communications meetings within their units as well as workshops focused on the changes employees had to make in their own jobs. As Curley now puts it, «When change is at a revolutionary level, you can not be aggressive enough in confronting the issues.» • • • 90005
90004 The forces of inertia in companies are strong. The legions of once successful firms that have fallen on hard times or gone out of business underscore how hard it is to break out of a rut, especially a comfortable, profitable rut.The findings of our research should therefore be heartening to executives. Not only can an established company renew itself through the creation of breakthrough products and processes, but it can do so without destroying or even hampering its traditional business. Building an ambidextrous organization is by no means easy, but the structure itself, combining organizational separation with senior team integration, is not difficult to understand. Given the executive will to make it happen, any company can become ambidextrous.90005

A version of this article appeared in the April 2004 issue of 90011 Harvard Business Review 90012.
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