Psst… The Hidden Secret Behind Organizations That Thrive in Chaos
Ever wonder why some organizations seem to effortlessly navigate global crises, technological seismic shifts, and economic downturns, while others, even once dominant giants, crumble?
The answer isn’t superior resources, better strategy, or even visionary leadership. By weaving together a tapestry of empirical research from organizational psychology, neuroscience, and self-compassion studies with insights from working with leaders, we’ve discovered something remarkable: The organizations that thrive have learned to see change through a lens of abundance rather than scarcity.
Most companies’ approach to disruption, like Kodak, saw digital photography as a threat to be managed. But a few, like Apple, transforming from a hardware company to an experience ecosystem, see change as an opportunity to be embraced. This isn’t just optimistic thinking; it’s a fundamentally different way of processing information that creates what researchers call “radical adaptability.”
The Apple Advantage: How Abundance Thinking Transforms Everything
When Apple launched the iPhone in 2007, they weren’t just releasing a phone. They were making a bet that would radically transform their entire business model, from hardware manufacturer to experienced orchestrator. Within three years, the App Store had created an entirely new economy, transforming Apple into the world’s largest music distributor, and eventually positioning it as a financial services company.
Here’s what’s remarkable: this transformation didn’t feel radical from the inside. As former Apple executives describe it, each step built naturally on their core value of creating “an unparalleled experience for our customers.” The iPhone enhanced that mission. The App Store amplified it. Services extended it.
This is an abundance of thinking in action. Instead of seeing the App Store as cannibalizing their hardware business, Apple saw it as expanding their customer value proposition. Where scarcity thinking says “protect what we have,” abundance thinking asks “how can we create more value?”
Research by Carol Dweck on the growth mindset and Barbara Fredrickson’s broaden-and-build theory helps explain why this approach works. When we approach challenges from abundance, our cognitive resources expand. We see more possibilities, make more connections, and access more creative solutions. When we approach from scarcity, our thinking narrows to protection mode.
The Business Challenge: When Success Creates Scarcity
Here’s the paradox: success often creates the very scarcity of thinking that prevents further adaptation. Organizations develop what we call “organizational antibodies”, systems, processes, and mindsets designed to protect what made them successful.
Kodak’s film division didn’t reject digital photography because they were short-sighted. They were protecting 70% of the company’s profits and the identity of being “memory preservers.” Blockbuster’s franchise owners didn’t resist streaming because they lacked vision. They were protecting stores that provided their livelihoods. HP’s TouchPad failed not due to poor technology, but because different divisions saw tablets as threatening their existing success.
The hidden challenge: Most change initiatives trigger these protective responses because they’re framed in scarce language: “We must change or die.” “Disrupt or be disrupted.” “Innovate or become irrelevant.”
But what if there’s a different way?
The Four Foundations of Abundance-Driven Adaptability
By studying organizations that consistently navigate change without triggering defensive responses, we’ve identified four foundations that enable radical adaptability. Each builds on what researchers call the “Aware, Able, Accountable” learning loop, but with a crucial addition: compassionate accountability that sees growth as an expression of care.
- Awareness Through Abundance Lens
Apple didn’t see the smartphone market as zero-sum competition with existing phone manufacturers. They saw an opportunity to reimagine what a phone could be. This abundance awareness, seeing possibility where others see threat, fundamentally changes how organizations process information.
Research from Amy Edmondson on psychological safety shows that when teams feel secure, they notice problems earlier and share information more freely. But our work with leaders reveals something deeper: abundance thinking creates the psychological conditions where awareness expands rather than contracts under pressure.
Instead of asking “What are we losing?” Abundance-driven awareness asks, “What are we learning?” Instead of “Who’s to blame?” it asks “What’s possible now?”
- Building Capabilities That Connect Rather Than Compete
When Apple developed the App Store, they didn’t see third-party developers as competitors taking revenue. They saw them as collaborators expanding what the iPhone could offer customers. This shift from scarcity (“they’re taking our business”) to abundance (“they’re growing our ecosystem”) enabled innovations that no single company could have created.
This connects to research on positive emotions and creativity. When we feel abundant rather than threatened, our brains access more neural networks, leading to better problem-solving and innovation. Organizations can cultivate this by developing what we call “connecting capabilities”, skills that help people see how individual success contributes to collective success.
- Future Building Through Values Integration
Apple’s transformation succeeded because each new venture deepened its core value proposition rather than abandoning it. They weren’t changing who they were; they were expressing who they were in new ways.
This aligns with research on values-driven change. When people understand how adaptation serves rather than threatens their deepest values, resistance transforms into engagement. Barbara Fredrickson’s broaden and build theory shows that positive emotions broaden our awareness and build our resources for future challenges.
The key insight: Abundance thinking helps organizations see adaptation as values expression rather than values abandonment.
- Compassionate Accountability: The Foundation of It All
Here’s one of the most significant insights from our synthesis of research, especially highlighting Kristin Neff’s research on self-compassion: accountability is one of the greatest expressions of care, both for individuals and organizations.
When Apple teams made mistakes during their transformation, they didn’t trigger shame spirals that shut down learning. They practiced what we call “compassionate accountability”: high standards combined with the emotional safety needed to acknowledge problems, learn from setbacks, and repair relationships when things go wrong.
Neuroscience research shows that shame and blame activate the same pain networks as physical injury, consuming cognitive resources needed for problem-solving. But when accountability is framed as care, “I’m committed to our success together”, it creates the neurological conditions where learning accelerates rather than shuts down.
The more I care about you, our work, and our shared values, the more accountable I’ll be to my commitments. And when I fall short, the more I’ll need your grace to learn and repair our relationship.
From Scarcity Thinking to Abundance Architecture
The organizations that thrive in our rapidly changing world don’t just manage change; they’ve built what we call “abundance architecture”: systems, processes, and mindsets that see opportunity where others see threat.
This isn’t naive optimism. It’s a sophisticated understanding that in a connected, complex world, the organizations that create the most value for others build the most sustainable advantage for themselves.
Apple didn’t succeed by protecting their existing business from smartphones; they succeeded by reimagining what their business could become when smartphones enabled new forms of customer value. They moved from “How do we compete?” to “How do we contribute?”
Your Abundance Opportunity
The next time your organization faces a challenge that feels overwhelming, pause, ask yourself: Are we approaching this from scarcity or abundance? Are we asking, “What might we lose?” or “What could we create?”
Notice the language in your meetings. Scarcity language sounds like: “protect our position,” “defend our market share,” “prevent disruption.” Abundance language sounds like: “expand our impact,” “deepen our value creation,” “enable new possibilities.”
This week, try this metacognitive practice: When you notice scarcity thinking arising in yourself or your team, get curious about it. What are you protecting that matters? How might that same care be expressed through abundance thinking? What would it look like to honor what you’ve built while embracing what you could become?
The organizations that master this shift don’t just survive change; they become change leaders, creating the future rather than defending against it.
What abundance opportunities are your scarcity thinking currently hiding?
Want to explore how abundance thinking can transform your organization’s approach to change? Learn more about developing Aware, Able, Accountable capabilities through our research-based frameworks at https://zielleadership.com/eiinaction/.