What is the Neurology of Business | Martin Pfiffner

Your organisation might have a polished strategy deck, a neat org chart, and a backlog full of “agile” work, yet decisions still stall and accountability still blurs. That is the gap we tackle with our guest Martin Pfiffner, author of The Neurology of Business. He identifies the missing third dimension of structure. Beyond anatomy (boxes) and physiology (process), we dig into organisational neurology, the real wiring of decision rights, control, and communication. When that wiring is unclear, work escalates, leaders overload, and you end up with what Dan Davies calls an unaccountability machine. We bring cybernetics into the boardroom without the jargon. Martin explains why communication never works perfectly, and why viable systems rely on negative feedback loops and closed-loop control to correct mistakes quickly. We connect that thinking to the Viable System Model, recursion levels, and the very practical question most organisations avoid: who steers whom, and which dimension actually leads, product, region, customer, or something else. That clarity is often the difference between moving at speed and getting stuck in endless consensus. We also challenge common strategy habits: confusing planning horizons with strategy, treating strategy as a one-off project, and ignoring constraints created by past investments and relationships. Instead, we talk about real-time strategy cycles, essential variables that simplify complexity, and how to navigate uncertainty without pretending you can predict it. We finish with a sharp warning and a hopeful path for AI. AI will not fix a broken organisation; it will accelerate it. Fix the decision and governance structure first, then use AI to strengthen organisational memory, sensing, and learning. If you find this useful, subscribe, share it with a colleague who wrestles with decision bottlenecks, and leave us a review with the one structural question your organisation needs to answer next. Find Martin's Work:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-dr-pfiffner-07534459/ His book The Neurology of Business: https://amzn.eu/d/046UympH Send Mike a Message **Enjoying the show?** Subscribe and leave a review on your favourite platform — it helps more people find the podcast. 🔗 Full episodes, show notes, and resources: https://www.lbiconsulting.com/strategymeetsreality-podcast 📺 Watch on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@StrategyMeetsReality Connect with host Mike Jones → https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-h-jones/