The New Automation Mindset

CHAPTER 6Plasticity

“Evolve solutions; when you find a good one, don't stop.”

—David Eagleman, neuroscientist

We want our companies to do better than survive tough times; we want them to thrive. Research suggests if a company is ever going to outpace a competitor, it is twice as likely to happen during a downturn.¹ Thus, we need to build antifragile systems that thrive under stress.

Strengthening muscles is a good example of this in action. When we hit the gym to lift weights, the fibers of our muscles tear and break down. They heal and rebuild, growing larger and stronger. Muscles are antifragile because stress, shock, and challenge makes them better.²

Neuroscientists found that our brains, like our muscles, are also antifragile. When challenged and trained, our brains tear down and rewire neural processes. For example, London cab drivers have to learn a very complex city road system in order to effectively do their job. Anders Ericsson, whose research inspired Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers, scanned their brains before and after training. He found that parts of their brains grew larger after training, just like a muscle.³ Other researchers discovered the same outcome in classical musicians.⁴

In the previous chapter, we explored the analogy of the brain and central nervous system with orchestration. The analogy extends to how our entire companies should work. Like brains, ...