The new tantrum is adaptivity. Every company needs to be intimately connected with the in- and outside world, constantly absorbing and reacting to emerging opportunities and changes in its ecosystem. Unsurprisingly, we at Favela Fabric applaud this new principle. We think the capacity to connect and engage constituencies in a productive, mutually consensual way represents one of the great challenges of corporate management.

Many companies are already doing this. They have set up sensory systems enabling swift response. They regularly organize chat sessions or kitchen labs with their customers. They convoke town-hall meetings with their staff. As the fresh wind of outside views and events blows through the corridors, the firm hopes to get a better grip on its environment.

However, too much of a breeze can cause a severe flu, with a quivering patient showing signs of severe spasms. This jittery, hypersensitive behavior is not uncommon among many companies these days. They jump upon every incident, overreact to any disruption and rush off to yet another off site to discuss the next challenge.

I am exaggerating, but only a bit. Many companies show levels of sensitivity bordering on stress. Barely accustomed to the strain of quarterly returns, they now also have to cope with a never-ending maelstrom of incidents. Being on constant alert wears people out and disconnects them from the core purpose of the company. They hop from one urgency to another, while failing to finish their previous assignments in a satisfactory manner. Frustration, fatigue and skepticism run high. In a hypersensitive corporation, people show frenetic activity fanning in all directions. The strategic road map is littered with distracting signals, all competing for supreme attention.

In the old days, many companies were autistic. They simply followed their own path, oblivious to what was happening outside. Obviously this approach turned out to be as disastrous as chartering a route between melting ice shelves. Nevertheless, the notion of an ‘inner compass’ is extremely valid. Companies need to be able to assess the daily torrent of events in the light of their own strategy and purpose. They should not be too much troubled if things temporarily run an unexpected course. There is however a thin line between confidence and overconfidence; with hindsight, it is easy to judge the executive who stuck to his plan in the face of accumulating counter-evidence.

Balancing open engagement with the inner compass is difficult.  It is about calibrating a process of signaling, filtering and acting upon key information that either corroborates or challenges the basis tenets of the strategy. The notion of inner compass also refers to a broadly shared belief in the soundness of the chosen route. This belief creates a tranquility of mind, enabling people to calmly assess the potential impact of outside events without immediately calling in the cavalry.

What we are looking at is embedding a degree of systemic instability. When a company opens up and unleashes the collective intelligence within its orbit, it also inevitably invites continuous distraction and questioning of its actions and purpose. The company cannot shut off this ‘noise’ and still expect to reap the benefits of open engagement. In effect there is no choice but to tune in, but unless you have a very clear and widely endorsed idea of where you are heading, opening up will do you as much harm as good. So yes, a bit of an autistic mindset is welcome these days..