Interactive Information Processing: A Source of Dynamic Adaptation

This paper argues that decision structures and information processing capabilities enhance the ability of organizations and societies to respond effectively to changing conditions in the surrounding context. Sustainable performance arguably derives from dynamic adaptation driven by interactive information processes that identify and exploit opportunities as they emerge guided by updated environmental analytics. The combination of experiential insights from autonomous responses and forward-looking strategic reasoning identifies a dynamic adaptive system of interacting fast and slow processes. The fast information processing observes local environmental stimuli whereas the slow information processing interprets these events and reasons about future actions. When the fast and slow processes interact, they form a dynamic system that allows an organization, a society, and social systems in general to adapt on an ongoing basis to turbulent conditions.