Russ presents the findings from his doctoral research into managers as agents of change across large organisations. Essentially, the five behaviours that update the role of the manager from guardian of a resource (project, team, or department) to transformer of the system. How would their bosses measure that, you may ask. The answer is ‘ambidexterity’ – being good at both exploring new knowledge andrunning the business as usual (BAU). Historically separated (think R&D vs Production), these activities are more likely to coexist today since output is digital or knowledge-based and changes very quickly. By focusing on the tensions in their context, managers are achieving the seemingly impossible – adaptable efficiency and efficient adaptability.
