Jeff DeGraff has advocated ambidextrous leadership for more than twenty years through his teaching, consulting, and his three books about the Competing Values Framework (CVF). The goal is that leaders should become adroit at two conflicting values (DeGraff identifies a total of four competing values). They develop the ability to oversee teams that work towards opposite goals, integrating them when the timing is right, so that each value can be developed successfully. The result is companies that are creative, while meeting high quality control standards, and that are open and collaborative, but also maintain their competitive edge.
Sounds easy enough, but the reality of human nature is that most people favor one specific value (generally the one which they have obtained good results in the past) and they shape their careers and their companies around it. To be a CVF leader, they must learn to appreciate the very value which is opposite, and conflicting, to the one that is held most dear. Extreme reliance on just one approach, which short term may look to be profitable, is actually unhealthy for the long term bottom-line. The other values become stunted, when a corporate culture is focused upon only one value.
This is where the missing link comes in; Competing Values Company training develops leaders who have the knowledge and experience to manage the complexity of competing values. These leaders can take a hard look at their organizations’ strengths and weaknesses, then train, hire, and select the teams to resolve problems and uncover new growth opportunities. Understanding competing values allows leaders to tweak existing practices to meet their business goals, producing a workplace of balanced values, actually making innovation happen.
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