*This is the English translation of the article by Marina Capizzi published on “Forme” (March, 2026)
It is not possible to talk about organizational functioning without considering the biological functioning of people, whose nervous system activates states of openness or closure in response to the signals it perceives.
Neurophysiological configurations have a massive impact on organizational behaviors, but this does not mean that organizations are doomed to neuro-fragility.
It is often said that organizations are made of people. Much more rarely is it said that organizations are made of bodies.
And yet, people enter workplaces not only with skills and roles. They enter with a body. A body equipped with an autonomic nervous system that continuously evaluates signals of safety or threat. And, based on these, it activates a biological state of openness that enables connection or closure that leads to defense. In practice, it shapes how we react, relate, and decide. Before conscious thought even develops. Can we talk about organizational functioning without considering our biological functioning? Can we ignore it when we talk about the work environment? No, we cannot.
The body matters
Companies continuously invest in reorganizations, tools and technologies, and change management. All of this is right. But why do so many problems persist despite these efforts? For example: the persistence of silos and difficulties in collaboration and delegation, resistance to change, to taking responsibility, to innovation, etc. The reason is simple. Denying that we also have a body—beyond skills, talents, and ambitions—makes it harder to overcome certain organizational problems that arise from self- and co-regulation. What are we talking about? Basic biological mechanisms that enable—or prevent—us from opening up and connecting with others, with the context, and with ourselves. Connection is the neural foundation of mental, relational, and methodological openness. Without connection, we can forget about collaboration, cross-functionality, flexibility, and ownership.
A new concept of organization
We can therefore say that organizations function first and foremost as distributed nervous systems that, depending on the perception of safety or threat, can foster connection (that is: listening, perspective-taking, authenticity, transparent communication, constructive conflict, etc.), or activate defense (that is: silence, rigidity, destructive conflict, role as a shield, etc.).
This perspective should not surprise us too much. We all know that in workplaces people constantly “talk” to each other through posture, micro-expressions, tone of voice, silences, rhythms, proximity, feedback systems, and power configurations. In these “conversations,” bodies are primarily involved. With their autonomic nervous systems.
Polyvagal Theory, developed by the American neuroscientist Stephen Porges, introduces the concept of neuroception (the way the nervous system automatically evaluates whether a context is sufficiently safe or not), precisely to distinguish it from conscious perception. Before we even realize it, the body has already decided whether to open up or protect itself, whether to orient toward others or withdraw, whether to explore and find new paths or defend the status quo. An example? Here it is. Why don’t we tell our boss that we disagree? Because our autonomic nervous system perceives the situation as a threat and activates survival mode: self-protection. So? Better to remain silent. Or. Do we perceive that the boss will appreciate a critique? The nervous system—feeling sufficiently safe—enters connection mode. We open up and speak our mind. Naturally. To contribute.
Working on psychological safety
Attention. We are not talking about “attitudes,” but about real neurophysiological configurations that, when activated, profoundly modify our body’s physiology (chemistry, brain waves, heart rate, auditory functioning…) and, with it, the way we think, relate, and decide. With a massive impact on organizational behaviors. Contribute to the common goal or defend one’s own? Speak up or remain silent? Explore or defend the status quo? In short, open doors or close them, build bridges or walls. All of this depends on the neural chain: the biological state active in bodies which, interacting with others’ nervous systems, creates a work context that in turn influences how bodies function. Bodies influence the context, the context influences bodies. If closure prevails, closure feeds itself. If connection prevails, connection feeds itself. All true, but if these are unconscious dynamics, how do we govern them? In reality, this is precisely where a powerful space for action opens up. The fact that the autonomic nervous system operates unconsciously does not mean that it cannot be influenced. We do not directly control biological reactions. But we do control the conditions that make a state of openness and connection more likely—or of closure and defense. This means we must work on the context that shapes people’s daily neuroception. And this is where psychological safety comes into play as a neuro-organizational infrastructure that supports individual and collective performance. Because the higher the perceived psychological safety, the greater the capacity for nervous system regulation. And when the quality of neural connection among people increases, the ability to think together, decide, and learn—from mistakes, difficult conversations, challenges, and disappointments—increases as well.
Performance and neuro-fragility
We are used to considering performance as the product of an individual. But this has not been true for a long time. What a person does, does not do, and how they do it remains important.
But in organizations, activities are interconnected. Individual performance does not exist. Performance is always the product of multiple individuals or teams working together. Therefore, performance also has a biological basis: it emerges from the ability of nervous systems to co-regulate. Teams that function well are not those without conflict, but those in which conflict does not systematically trigger defensive states. Where disagreement is not interpreted as an identity threat. Where mistakes do not put belonging at risk. Where speaking, biologically, costs less than remaining silent. Neuroceptive dynamics are a fundamental ingredient of every work environment. From this perspective, slowness, disconnection from customers and markets, persistent negative stress, silence, low levels of learning and innovation, dysfunctional control, lack of proactivity and engagement are all signs of organizational neuro-fragility. Because a neuro-fragile organization is a professional context that pushes the system toward defensive closure states, fueling both internal and external disconnection.
How to intervene?
There are several interconnected actions to take. Here they are:
- Educate people to understand and recognize how we function. The more awareness increases, the more we can identify small, simple actions that help us return to connection.
- Work with those in hierarchical roles. Those in decision-making positions must understand that how they listen, interrupt, react to criticism or mistakes, their tone of voice, and the consistency between what they say and what they do all impact the nervous system. It is striking how learning small behaviors can have massive effects on collaboration and performance.
- Support teams. People who work together every day are the true unit of performance, and their level of psychological safety must be increased to create a daily context that supports both results and well-being.
- Redesign everyday organizational practices. Meetings, feedback systems, ways of managing mistakes: all of this speaks to the nervous system. A particularly relevant example is decision-making processes. In many organizations, it is unclear who decides: people talk, propose ideas, but decisions are made elsewhere, later, or have already been made. These practices invite disconnection. The consequences are well known: strategic silence, apparent conformity, reduced initiative, and a shift of energy from solution quality to personal risk management. Not because people do not want to contribute, but because, biologically, speaking becomes too costly.
Organizations are not doomed to neuro-fragility
We can build neuro-regulated organizations: work environments that foster connection rather than defense. Organizations in which practices, roles, language, and micro-behaviors make co-regulation possible, enabling listening, learning, dialogue, and accountability even under pressure. In a neuro-regulated organization, complexity is not denied, but it becomes easier to find a path toward simplicity. Conflict does not disappear, but it ceases to be an identity threat. Mistakes are not a lack of control, but working material. People do not have to spend energy protecting themselves from the context and can instead use it to think, decide, and act together. All of this impacts immediate functioning—quality of decisions, coordination speed, responsiveness—and at the same time builds the biological and organizational conditions to continue generating value over time. It is a matter of architecture: how we feel and how we function. And therefore, ultimately, how an organization remains alive, adaptive, and capable of a future.
Marina Capizzi is an organizational evolution consultant, Executive Master Certified Coach, and author of Hierarchy to Die or to Thrive?, published by KDP.