Managing for variability: A neuroscientific approach for developing strategic agility in organizations

Abstract

The neuroscientific literature reveals that the brain changes over time, and the type of change (plasticity) that results is not random. While the brain exhibits certain evolutionary prejudices, individual plasticity and the kind of thinking enabled can be shaped by, and can shape, organizational priorities and operations. Organizational focus on structure and procedural efficiency is shown to foster fixed thinking, while cultivation of “practiced varying” skills encourages thinking agility. Agile thinking is shown to be essential for the development of organizational plasticity, the foundation for organizational agility. Finally, suggestions for incorporating variability in the workplace are offered.

Doing complexity leadership theory: How agile coaches at Spotify practise enabling leadership

“…For organizations for whom rapid production of knowledge and innovation is crucial for survival in complex competitive landscapes (Koch & Leitner, 2008;Uhl-Bien et al, 2007), such as Swedish music streaming firm Spotify, a key management challenge is learning what to structure and what not to structure (Hill, Cromartie, & McGinnis, 2017;McKelvey, 1999;Vidgen & Wang, 2009) or how to strike a balance between order and disorder, often referred to as "the edge of chaos" (Lewin, Long, & Carroll, 1999;McDaniel & Walls, 1997). The edge of chaos provides organizations with both sufficient "stimulation and freedom to experiment and adapt but also with sufficient frameworks and structure to ensure they avoid complete disorderly disintegration" (McMillan, 2004, p. 22).…”

Organizational Toughness Facing New Economic Crisis

“…Thus, the characteristics of leadership are an important predictor of organizational survival or success. If the leaders have an agile thinking, as we have noticed in other section, then they can view all kind of problems from different perspectives and they can more easily cope with them, using different and innovative approaches and fostering organizational plasticity and agility (Hill et al, 2017). Leaders must drive communication, motivation and collaboration among employees, promoting actively their flexibility, agility and adaptability to handle with a changing and unpredictable business environment (Keister, 2014).…”

“…Behavioural plasticity is defined by the extent to which a person is affected by external factors (Pierce, Gardner, Dunham, & Cummings, 1993) and has been studied by several scholars (e.g., Eden & Kinnar, 1991;Elengovan & Xie, 1999). More, neuroscience research has been showing that the brain changes over time, what is called brain plasticity, and this can influence organizational priorities and operations (Hill, Cromartie, & McGinnis, 2017). These authors showed the linkage between agile thinking (Garlick, 2002) and the organizational plasticity development that leads to enhancement of organizational agility.…”

“…These authors showed the linkage between agile thinking (Garlick, 2002) and the organizational plasticity development that leads to enhancement of organizational agility. Promoting agile thinking among employees, when they cope with variability of business problems, contributes to strategic agility or organization plasticity (Friedman, Gerstein, & Hertz, 2018;Hill et al, 2017).…”

“…The neuroscience and psychology pointed out that the use of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations can shape work plasticity and subsequent behaviours, being its agility associated with the evolution to new forms of conduct (e.g., Hill et al, 2017;Kreye, 2016;Locke & Schattke, 2019). Motivation to change is an important factor to distinguish behaviour flexibility from skill flexibility.…”