Research-Based Innovation & Change Leadership

Ambidextrous Leadership for a Complex World

Ambidextrous thinking equips leaders to balance the now and the next – navigating complexity and making sharper, more innovative decisions when it matters most.

Keynote-Andrew-Gaia-Grant-stage-Lenovo-1920X700
“Your research-driven insights and real-world examples highlighted how embracing the Explore–Preserve paradox enables ambidextrous leadership and fuels innovation.”

Adrian Thake | Commercial Channel Sales Manager 

LENOVO (ANZ)

The Challenge

Why Ambidextrous Thinking Matters

Today’s challenges don’t move in straight lines.
They branch, loop and collide – demanding leaders respond to both immediate pressures and future possibilities at the same time.

This creates real tension between competing demands.
Navigating that tension requires clarity, confidence and a new way of thinking.

Ambidextrous thinking gives leaders the ability to navigate complexity.
It helps leaders to explore emerging opportunities while protecting what matters most. This is the capability that turns complexity into direction, and competing priorities into practical, balanced decisions.

The Framework

The Ambidextrous Thinking Model

Our research has revealed two complementary capacities that allow leaders to work productively with tension – equipping them to think and act more strategically.

Andrew-Gaia-Grant-stage

Conceptual Framework

Ambidextrous
Mindset

Reflexive Agility

The competence to: recognize competing demands, reflect on the tensions & relate to real scenarios.

Equips leaders to respond with clarity rather than chaos under pressure.

curve

Productive tension

Ambidextrous
Practices

Adaptative Integration

The capabilities to: assess challenges, adopt different thinking modes & activate ambidexterity.

Equips leaders to design and implement original and useful solutions.

Together, these capacities enable significant, lasting change.

Grounded in Research

Built on a decade of study into how leaders work with tension, not around it – including in-depth interviews, ethnographic case studies and surveys.

Peer-Referenced

Based on contributions to and in alignment with the academic and business literature on paradox theory and ambidexterity in leaders, teams and organizations.

Tried and Tested

Validated through numerous leadership development programs, coaching programs, and culture change programs.

Programs

Programs

Four pathways into ambidextrous leadership — from foundational workshops to accredited programs. Each is built on original Tirian research and delivered by the people who designed it.

01

Ambidextrous Leadership Foundations

A grounding in ambidextrous thinking for leaders encountering paradox for the first time – introducing the need to balance breakthrough innovation with operational excellence. Participants explore their leadership mindset, uncover personal biases, and learn how to lead change with agility and strategic foresight.

  • Recognize and identify tensions and underlying competing demands
  • Apply the both-and shift in making real decisions
  • Build leadership agility for long-term impact

Takeaways: An individual Innovative Change Leader Profile (iCLi) with a personalized practical action plan for developing ambidextrous competence and capabilities.

1/2 – 1-day intensive / In-person or virtual + coaching options / Cohort or in-house

Gaia Grant

02

Ambidextrous Team Alignment

For teams navigating systemic complexity, strategic contradiction, and transformation. Participants learn how to identify and navigate innovation tensions within teams, and how to build systems and structures that will support ambidextrous action – turning potential conflict into constructive momentum.

  • Build a cohesive team and facilitate constructive dialogue without sacrificing diverse perspectives
  • Map team dynamics and plot required development actions
  • Design practical ambidextrous frameworks and operating models for embedding ambidexterity

Takeaways: A team iCLi profile with a bespoke team development plan based on individual roles and responsibilities, and the Dynamic Polar Positioning (DPoP) tool for ensuring team alignment in applying frameworks and models to specific scenarios.

1 to 2-day  / Executive cohort, in-house, retreat + coaching options / Custom design

Gaia Grant

03

Ambidextrous Thinking for Educators & Facilitators

Equip business schools and facilitators to teach the model inside their own programs.

  • Deliver the model with fidelity
  • Access teaching cases and exercises
  • Integrate into existing curricula

Train-the-trainer, Licenced materials, Ongoing support

Gaia Grant

04

Accredited Ambidextrous Leadership Pathway

A credentialed development journey combining assessment, learning, and applied practice.

  • Diagnostic-informed pathway
  • Applied capstone with feedback
  • Recognised accreditation

Multi-module, Blended learning, Assessed

Publications & Research

Publications and Research

Three international bestselling books, peer-reviewed research, and practitioner resources — built on a decade of data collected from global leaders.

Gaia
“The leaders who thrive in complexity are not those who choose sides fastest, but those who hold the tension longest before integrating.”

From Gaia’s doctoral research at the University of Sydney Business School — exploring how leaders actually work with competing demands, grounded in data from global executives.

Innovation-book

Andrew Grant & Dr Gaia Grant (PhD)

The Innovation Race

How to Change a Culture to Change the Game

Economists estimate that up to 80 per cent of growth comes from new ideas and innovations. The Innovation Race takes readers on a global adventure to explore the current state of innovation and how to stay ahead.

Andrew Grant & Dr Gaia Grant (PhD)

Who Killed Creativity?

And How Can We Get it Back?

A practical guide to understanding the barriers to creative thinking and how to overcome them — essential reading for leaders who want to build cultures where creativity thrives.

Dr Gaia Grant (PhD)

Purpose-Driven Innovation Leadership

A Qualitative Case-Study Approach

Based on Gaia’s doctoral research at the University of Sydney Business School, exploring how purpose-driven leadership sustains innovation over time.

Research Summaries

Distilled findings from the body of work, formatted for executive reading.

Infographics

Visual frameworks and data visualisations for leadership teams.

Academic Publications

Peer-reviewed papers and referenced scholarship on ambidextrous leadership.

Research Hub

Browse the full library of academic publications, research summaries, and infographics.

Speaking

Keynote Speaking

Andrew and Gaia co-present keynotes with a natural, conversational flow — blending deep research with interactive facilitation, playful banter, and real-time responsiveness to the audience.

Rather than relying on rigid scripts, they adapt delivery to the energy in the room and the strategic goals of each event.

Keynote-Andrew-Gaia-Grant-stage-Lenovo-1920X700
Keynote

Lenovo Accelerate 360

Andrew & Gaia co-presenting on stage to a global audience.

Gaia Grant
Keynote

Gartner Conference

Gaia delivering a keynote on innovation leadership.

Keynote

First Sentier Global Reimagine

Gaia speaking alongside Dr Michio Kaku and an all-star lineup.

Gaia Grant
Keynote

Singapore Keynote

Andrew & Gaia facilitating an interactive session.

Delivered to Fortune 500 clients including Salesforce, Samsung, Lenovo, 3M, Nestlé, and the Australian Government — across 30+ countries.

Stories of Impact

Stories of Impact

How ambidextrous thinking plays out across corporate, government, not-for-profit, and management education contexts.

Gaia

Corporate

Case Study

Holding exploration and execution in tension

A global technology leadership team redesigned its operating model to protect long-horizon bets without sacrificing quarterly delivery.

Gaia Grant

Management Students

Student story

Teaching both-and before either-or sets in

MBA candidates moved from binary case analysis to holding competing stakeholder demands — measured in decision quality and confidence.

Gaia

Government

Case Study

Ambidextrous policy under public scrutiny

A public-sector leadership cohort learned to navigate stability and reform simultaneously, reducing decision paralysis across agencies.

Gaia

NFP

Case Study

Mission and margin, held together

A national NFP reconciled mission fidelity with commercial discipline, unlocking a sustainable funding model without compromise.

Delivered to Fortune 500 clients including Salesforce, Samsung, Lenovo, 3M, Nestlé, and the Australian Government — across 30+ countries.

Tools & Resources

Tools and Resources

Practitioner-grade instruments to diagnose, map, and work with leadership tension in real time.

iCLi-Interpreting-Profile

Assessment · 15 minutes

The Ambidextrous Thinking Diagnostic

A research-grounded self-assessment that surfaces your default response to competing demands. Discover your thinking patterns, identify growth edges, and receive a personalised profile.

Paradox Navigation Worksheets

Structured prompts to move a live tension from either-or to a considered both-and response.

Leadership Tension Mapping Tool

Visualise the competing forces in your context and locate where integration is possible.

Videos

Short concept explainers

Guides

Practitioner field guides

About

The people behind the research

Tirian was founded by two thought leaders who have spent three decades researching how cultures sustain innovation — and helping global organisations put that research into practice.

Gaia

Founder & Executive Director

Dr Gaia Grant

PhD · Author · Researcher & Lecturer

Gaia is the creator of the unique ‘Innovative Change Leader’ Profile (iCLi) and ‘Polar Positioning’ (PoP) tool. She is a researcher and lecturer on innovation with the University of Sydney Business School, and a director of Tirian Consulting.

Her doctoral research explored innovation sustainability through the discipline of Strategy, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. She holds an MSc in Creative Leadership (State University of New York), along with a Grad Dip Change Leadership, BD (hons), and BA Dip Ed.

University of Sydney | 3 bestselling books | International keynote speaker | EliteX Top 10 Speaker 2025

Co-Founder & Research Director

Andrew Grant

Author · Keynote Speaker & Facilitator 

Andrew is an innovation transformation specialist who has spent 30 years travelling the world studying creativogenic cultures — why some societies and companies race ahead with innovation while others are left behind.

He has created a number of unique corporate simulations and resources, and co-presents high-impact keynotes with Gaia that blend deep research with dynamic interaction and powerful facilitation.

30+ countries delivered | 3 bestselling books | Co-presented keynotes

andrew grant

“The leaders who thrive in complexity are not those who choose sides fastest, but those who hold the tension longest before integrating.”

Andrew & Gaia Grant — from three decades of research and practice across 30+ countries

Andrew-Gaia-Grant-stage

Begin the Journey

Equip your leaders to hold the tension — and find the third way forward.

Request a program guide or book a discovery call with the Tirian team. We’ll help you design the right pathway for your context.

Contact

Let’s begin a conversation

Program bookings, media requests, speaking invitations, and general enquiries — tell us how we can help.

Enquiry type *