The Defining Skill for this Digital Age – Mastering Duality

Nitin’s introduction:

Among the challenges the VUCA world throws at leaders, most of which have been dealt with in the previous chapters, there is one particularly unique. It is the most significant, in my experience, and it is the need for leaders to manage contradictions or seemingly conflicting objectives at the same time.

Opposite values are complementary and coexistent in nature – day/night, heat/cold, male/female – and it is no different in business. Leaders in the digital age face many conflicting objectives, or what I like to call ‘duality’. While opposite values are complementary, they are certainly not easy to deal with. As leaders we tend to develop preferences, get stuck in a particular mode of working, and thus tend to focus on only one aspect of the complementary values. In some cases, our way of dealing with complementarity is to make tradeoffs between the opposing values. My submission is that complementary values or conflicting objectives are such an intrinsic feature of the digital age that leaders need to go beyond tradeoffs and master operating with duality – create win-win on both values.

Here are some examples of conflicting objectives that are often difficult for leaders to balance:

• Short-term versus long-term. High velocity of change and shrinking business and product cycles call for intense short-term focus. However, in parallel, if you do not invest behind the long- term, you will not have a future. Moreover, short-term and long- term are not parallel tracks; they need to connect into each other. Many leaders get stuck in either short-term or long-term frames and find it difficult to toggle between the two.
• Execution versus strategy. We saw earlier in the book that traditional strategy-to-execution cycles have got reversed in the VUCA world and there is even more focus on execution today. However, it is important to connect the dots from execution and develop clarity on strategy. Strategy to execution is no more linear but iterative, so it becomes even more important to toggle seamlessly between the two.
• Growth versus profitability. This a classic conundrum – one that is becoming even more difficult to balance in the digital age. Revenue growth and profitability are the twin pillars of enterprise-value creation. However, it is not easy to manage both at the same time. Revenue growth typically requires investments, which hit your profitability. This becomes even more challenging when profitability is already under threat in many areas because of pricing pressures and rising costs. So, it is a great challenge for business leaders to develop a win-win formula that can drive growth and profitability at the same time.
• Customers versus employees. Customers are the bedrock of any business, and in the digital age, which is characterized by hyper competition and abundant choices, customer-centricity becomes even more important. Driving for customer delight will likely require employees to go the extra mile. But if you are not careful, this might compromise your employee mission. I believe that in the digital age it is important to have a dual mission – keeping both customer and employee in mind. You have to be both customer-centric and employee-centric at the same time. And, if you balance the two axes (customers and employees) well that can create a virtuous cycle for your business.
• Sales versus delivery. Sales and delivery require different mindsets. Sales is often about selling a promise, while delivery is about making it happen. Sales often tends to be aggressive, and delivery conservative. If you oversell, you will falter in delivery. At the same time, if your promise is too conservative you might not be able to sell anything either!!
• Quality versus speed. While driving at speed, your chances of accidents increase. Similarly, in business, pushing for speed can result in compromising quality. A good example of this is in recruitment: pushing for scale up can end up compromising both candidate quality and experience. Speed is one of the defining features of the digital age; but it is imperative to find the formula to ensure high quality while operating at speed.
• Data versus intuition. We have talked at many points in the book about how data is exploding in volume, variety and velocity. This, coupled with the rise of data science and AI, enables more fact-based decision making. However, the role of intuition does not go away. It becomes even more important. Intuition is a source of creativity and competitive advantage. The question is, how do you develop both the faculties of logic and intuition at the same time?
• Man versus machine. The relentless march of technology, led by artificial intelligence as its torch bearer, is leading to the redesign of many jobs and processes. The question is, how best can leaders designing the jobs and processes of tomorrow understand and incorporate the complementary capabilities of both machine (technology) and man (human capabilities)? I strongly believe it is an AND not an OR opportunity.
• Products versus services. In technology, there has been a divide between products and services. These are typically different business models and require different mindsets and are typically delivered by different types of companies. However, the boundary between products and services has been blurring. Many services companies are developing product/intellectual property capabilities, while product companies are realizing the need for client-specific customization.
• Input versus output. Business leaders, especially those running public companies, are measured on the basis of their output – for example, financial results and stock market performance – and this tends to take a lot of their attention. However, if there isn’t focus on the right inputs – for example, investment in capabilities, talent and culture – it will be difficult to sustain high-quality output. At the same time, if your efforts (input) are not anchored by a clear end in mind (output), you might lose your way.
  ‘Knowing something’ versus ‘knowing someone’. Most business leaders tend to have a dominant style, either relationship driven, or content driven. I believe this is no more a choice. In the digital age, it becomes important for leaders to have both skills.
• Autonomy versus governance. The fast pace of the digital age means that traditional command-and-control structures cannot work. To ensure speed of decision making and action, you require autonomy at various levels of an organization. At the same time, the need for governance and risk management does not go away. How do you balance autonomy and governance at the same time?
• Learning versus doing. The dynamic nature and high velocity of change in the digital age make continuous learning an imperative. At the same time, it is critical to have a bias for action. Learning and doing can take time away from each other, but it is important to find the right balance between the two.
• Innovation versus delivery. Innovation is one of the key success factors in the digital age. However, innovation by definition implies creativity, experimentation and risk taking. On the other hand, high-quality delivery typically requires predictability and consistency. Often, innovation and delivery call for two different mindsets. It is more important than ever before to manage both at the same time.
• Intellect versus emotion. The battle between head and heart is a perennial one. Most of us have a dominant style. The conflicting requirements of leadership in the digital age implies that all executives need to develop and use their IQ and EQ equally. A balance of intellect and emotion, of head and heart, is more important than ever before for a leader.
• Spirituality versus materialism. In a highly frenzied and
  volatile world, being able to find peace in the midst of chaos is extremely important. When there is so much happening outside, being able to go deep within and anchor oneself becomes even more important. It is no wonder that meditation or mindfulness is moving from the personal realm and finding increasing acceptance at the workplace, even in boardrooms. While spirituality and materialism might seem at odds with each other, I strongly believe that having a strong spiritual core is increasingly important for leaders to succeed in the crazy VUCA world we live in today.

Duality is a given. Now, the question is, how can leaders improve their ability to handle conflicting objectives? Here are five suggestions:

1. Build awareness and understanding of the complementary values, and the realization that you have to master both.
2. Get a range of experiences, which broaden your worldview and give you an understanding of different aspects of reality.
3. Bring diverse talents together in the team. While it is desirable for a leader to master a range of complementary values, it might not be easy to do so. Bringing together talent with diverse backgrounds and experiences can help bring the complementary values together as a team.
4. Have a sounding board. In our personal lives, our spouse complements us. He/she is not just a sounding board but also often holds a mirror to us, helping us see the bigger picture of life. Similarly, in our professional life, it is very important to have a trusted sounding board, whether it is a mentor or a colleague, who can help us go beyond our biases and see the bigger picture.
5. Practice meditation. This is an excellent way to centre yourself. The challenge with complementary values is that we tend to get stuck in extremes. Meditation is a great way of centering yourself. I have seen in my personal experience that the practice of meditation brings clarity to any complex situation and helps you get to win-win solutions.

Complexity is a defining feature of the digital age, confounding leaders by laying in front of them many conflicting objectives. Therefore, mastering duality is a key skill for leaders to succeed in the digital age. It makes leadership a more difficult task, but those who are able to master different aspects of duality will grow to a different level of maturity, both as professionals and as human beings.

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