Future business organizations, including oil and gas companies, will be a series of neural networks of capabilities that continually build and break up to create value to customers.

Just as human brains form new neurons every day, so should the organization that wants to succeed. So-called motor neurons in the organization will be barraged with signals from the market and will learn to respond. They will take action or signal other neurons to take action.

Changes in technology, prices and employee demographics will drive smaller, leaner organizations that will connect when they need to. The pace of change will force new business partnerships that cross industries and will dramatically change existing sectors within an industry. The rise of digital labor and self-learning systems will allow collaboration that was never thought possible before. There will be a premium paid for companies that can react and adapt quickly.

As Patrick Lencioni illustrates so well in “Silos, Politics, and Turf Wars: A Leadership Fable about Destroying the Barriers That Turn Colleagues into Competitors”, the ER room is the perfect example of an organization in crisis mode. Everyone focuses on the patients. Crisis creates a “bizarre and beautiful mix of chaos, coordination and communication.” The arbitrary walls come down when faced with a shared adversity.

Ori Brafman, in “The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations,” explores the science of neurons and reminds us that resiliency is the key to survival. “The absence of structure, leadership and formal organization, once considered a weakness, has become a major asset. Seemingly chaotic groups have challenged and defeated established institutions,” Brafman writes.

Today’s crisis for both E&P and OFS companies is cash. Traditional thinking stops investments in exploration, curtails spending, accelerates layoffs and ultimately restructures debt. In the new organization, existing departments rally together, and noncore services are quickly disbanded while new competencies that exist externally are swiftly engaged. The new organization allows employees to curb worthless activities, and pushes decision-making down and across organizations.

Are tomorrow’s crises supply, regulation or renewables? Regardless of the specific nature of the crisis, the chaos that ensues can be overcome more easily in a world of nimble organizations that can evolve quickly through new alliances and partnerships. The new energy company doesn’t rely on tradition, but, rather, uses innovation and diversity of thought to rapidly create new solutions to new problems.

Oil and gas companies must marry live data with virtual deciphers and solutions. Leadership and incentives must be in place to encourage collaboration.

Imagine a scenario where the incentives to maximize a particular shale play were shared among multiple organizations across the supply chain. It’s not about hiring people anymore; it’s about finding the right skills and competencies wherever they may be; creating adaptive organizations that are capable of restructuring themselves continuously.

Much like neurons, alliances become the prelude to change. Some alliances are fleeting, lasting only as long as it takes to solve a problem or create a position in the market. Others are a precursor to a longer-term merger of two or more companies’ technologies and capabilities.

Lynell Rogeri is a managing director with global energy consulting firm Opportune LLP in its Process and Technology Practice. Rogeri has more than 20 years of experience in strategy, project management, process design and change management. Her primary focus is in the U.S. upstream market, although her previous work has included gas storage and LNG in both the U.S. and Europe. She can be reached at www.opportune.com.