From Fortress to Flock: Rethinking Mindset for the Age of Uncertainty

Written By Andrew Lopianowski

In Times of Storm, Do You Build Higher Walls or Learn to Fly in Formation? 

For centuries, our instinct in crisis has been to build fortresses, literal and metaphorical. From the walled cities of antiquity to the C-suites of the 20th century, we’ve responded to upheaval by tightening control, narrowing decision rights, and idolizing the lone-hero CEO. Shakespeare’s Macbeth gripped his crown with white-knuckled fear until he recognizes that it was all in vain, and, while preparing for the next challenge, he led a life devoid of honor and respect: 

My way of life is fall'n into the sere, the yellow leaf, and that which should accompany old age, as honour, love, obedience, troops of friends, I must not look to have, but in their stead, curses, not loud but deep, mouth-honour, breath which the poor heart would fain deny and dare not. (5.3.26-32) 

Perhaps you may know a few leaders who likewise grip their org charts just as tightly. 

As Heraclitus said, “No man ever steps in the same river twice.” Today, the river is a torrent: pandemics (both social and viral), AI disruption, and shifting generational values have turned the old maps to mush. The fortress mindset with its rigid hierarchies, siloed expertise, and top-down command doesn’t just fail to protect. It isolates, blinds, and under sustained pressure, fractures from within. 

So, what’s the alternative? 

The Flock: Nature’s Blueprint for Resilience 

History and nature offer a different metaphor: the flock. Migrating geese survive storms not by flying solo, but by sensing the winds together, shifting formation, and sharing leadership. As a quotation often attributed to Mary Parker Follett goes, “The best leader knows when to lead and when to follow.” In this new era, the organizations that thrive are those that reset their mindset; not to suppress the tension between individual and collective interests, but to harness it as a source of innovation and strength. 

Are you still building walls—or are you learning to fly in formation? 

From Plato’s City to the Buddhist Sangha: The Power of the Collective 

This isn’t a Silicon Valley fad; it’s ancient wisdom. Plato’s Republic imagined a just society as a harmony of roles, not a contest of egos. The Buddhist sangha (community) is a pillar of enlightenment, teaching that individual awakening is inseparable from collective care. Indigenous councils, Christian monasteries, and the African concept of Ubuntu (“I am because we are”) all echo the same paradox: we find our strength in shared purpose. 

So why do boardrooms still worship the lone genius? 

The Brain Was Never a Fortress 

Neuroscience now proves what philosophers intuited. Dr. Matthew Lieberman’s research shows our brains treat social pain like physical pain: connection is not a luxury, but a survival imperative (Lieberman, 2013). John Cacioppo’s studies on loneliness reveal that isolation impairs judgment and decision-making; precisely what leaders face in volatile times (Cacioppo & Patrick, 2008). 

Recent studies in social neuroscience (Feldman Barrett, 2017; Hari & Kujala, 2009) highlight that our brains are “wired to connect,” and that collaboration literally changes our neurobiology, increasing resilience and creativity under stress. 

The Social Brain in Action 

  • Uncertainty triggers both individualism and the need for belonging (Hogg & Adelman, 2013). The trick isn’t to suppress this tension, but to channel it toward constructive, inclusive collaboration. 

  • Collective intelligence outperforms individual IQ in complex problem-solving (Woolley et al., 2010). The best teams are those that share airtime, read emotional cues, and recognize the power of respectful though tense discussions as the way to encourage honest psychological safety (Edmondson, 2018). 

Flocking: The Original Human Strategy 

Anthropology reminds us: in times of threat, humans have always flocked. Traditional societies managed uncertainty through ritual, myth, and distributed wisdom, not top-down orders. Leadership was dynamic, relational, and adaptive (Boehm, 2009). 

Think of a flock of birds: no fixed leader, just constant feedback and co-adaptation. It’s not chaos; it’s coordinated emergence. For executive teams, the lesson is clear: you don’t need more control, you need more trust. 

Management Science and the Illusion of Control 

The 20th century gave us Taylorism, KPIs, and the cult of the “heroic” leader. These worked in stable, predictable environments. But in today’s nonlinear world, measuring harder doesn’t mean managing better (Grote, 2018). 

MIT’s research on collective intelligence shows that the “wisdom of crowds” is real, when teams are experientially diverse, emotionally aware, inclusive, and psychologically safe (MIT Center for Collective Intelligence, 2020). 

Enter AI: The New Flockmate 

Generative AI is not just another tool; it’s a new kind of collaborator. Used well, AI accelerates collective sensemaking, surfaces hidden patterns, and challenges groupthink in real time (Brynjolfsson & McAfee, 2014). 

But here’s the catch: AI in a fortress becomes surveillance. AI in a flock becomes strategy. If you treat AI as a control mechanism, you’ll stifle creativity and erode trust. If you treat it as a “co-agent,” you’ll unlock new forms of adaptive intelligence. 

Reset the Mindset 

This isn’t about abandoning leadership; it’s about reframing it. 

To move from fortress to flock means: 

  • From heroic individualism → to shared agency 

  • From rigid planning → to dynamic alignment 

  • From isolation → to purposeful interdependence 

Leaders aren’t generals; they’re guides. Their job is to tune the flock, not fly out front. 

What would your organization look like if you stopped building walls, and started flying in formation? Where do you see the greatest tension between individual and collective interests in your team, and how might you flip that tension into a source of strength? 

The future doesn’t belong to the fortified. It belongs to the adaptive. 

 

Works Cited 

  • Plato. Republic. 

 

How are you resetting your organization’s mindset for the age of uncertainty? What’s your biggest “fortress” to let go of? Let’s discuss in the comments. 

 

Want to be part of the (r)evolution?  

I am putting the finishing touches on the first draft of a book with a friend and colleague Andrew Lopianowski on the concept, which we are calling HumanCorps. If you’d like to learn more about the book, or perhaps have some amazing stories of people who are putting these efforts in motion to be the change we need, please drop me a line.    

Andrew Lopianowski https://www.humancorps.co.uk
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