A pressing dilemma today is whether artificial intelligence (AI) and organizations represent a perfect marriage or a coercive cohabitation. As AI, digital platforms, and climate disruption continuously reshape the organizational landscape and the planet, we find ourselves navigating what sociologist Zygmunt Bauman (2013) called liquid modernity—an era of chronic instability and uncertainty. The need for a new way of thinking becomes urgent in this world.
From Solid to Liquid: The End of Organizational Permanence
Bauman’s concept of liquid modernity describes a historical shift in which solid institutions and long-standing values (e.g., stable employment, long-term careers) are melting into fluid, short-term, and often precarious forms. In his metaphor, modern life is not like a well-ordered map but a labyrinth—a place without clear direction, demanding constant improvisation and reinvention (Bauman & Haugaard, 2008).
Traditionally, organizations mirrored the values of modernity: stability, predictability, and progress. The “solid” model of organizing prioritized efficiency, control, and linear growth. It promised jobs for life, structured roles, and career ladders. However, we are witnessing the erosion of this logic. Trust in institutions—from the welfare state to multinational corporations—is weakening. Workers increasingly seek novelty, autonomy, and purpose, while identity and belonging at work become fragmented. Value is often measured in terms of financial returns and power rather than social contribution or ethical integrity.
In this context, I propose to see organizations in a new fluid frame: an organization as a flowing river. The fluid frame is a conceptual model grounded in adaptability, resilience, and responsiveness. Like water, fluid organizations navigate around obstacles, penetrate new terrain, and reshape themselves without losing coherence. The goal is not to predict and control but to remain viable and creative amid constant transformation.
This frame draws from Bauman’s liquid metaphor but turns it from diagnosis into design. Where Bauman saw disorientation, we see an opportunity: to build organizations that are not rigid in their solidity but resilient in their fluidity, not reactive, but creatively adaptive.
Resilience Over Growth: A New Logic of Organizing
In the age of AI, the logic of growth for its own sake is increasingly untenable. AI’s potential for efficiency, automation, and data-driven optimization is profound—but it also risks deepening precarity, eroding trust, and hollowing out human-centered values unless guided by a new organizing principle.
The fluid frame shifts attention from permanence to sustainability, from hierarchical control to collaborative responsiveness. In this model, organizations are not built to scale endlessly, but to endure intelligently. They prioritize agility, decentralized decision-making, short-term iteration, and long-term coherence through values rather than rules.
The relevance of this model is already visible in supply chain design. Ivanov (2023), for instance, argues that in t
he face of increasing global disruptions—from pandemics to geopolitical shocks—supply chains must operate like fluid systems: resilient, adaptable, and sustainable. Instead of focusing solely on lean efficiency, they incorporate redundancy, scenario planning, and responsiveness to local conditions. These principles mirror the logic of the fluid frame. Just as supply chains must navigate uncertainty through flexibility and coordination, so must organizations reimagine themselves as systems that flow rather than freeze. Adaptability, not stability, becomes the new strategic asset.
Ultimately, the fluid frame calls for organizations to elevate resilience, sustainability, and human-centric systems as guiding principles for managing AI, climate disruption, and future complexity. This shift is not only ethical—it is strategic.
Values such as collaboration, communication, transparency, and well-being should inform not just HR policies but also the design of technology, operations, and leadership. The triple bottom line—economic viability, social equity, and environmental responsibility—provides a clear foundation for this reframing (Ivanov, 2023).
In liquid modernity, the most effective organizations will not be the biggest, fastest, or most automated—they will be the most fluid. The fluid frame offers a hopeful and realistic way to navigate an unpredictable world, urging us to design organizations that are supple yet strong, adaptive yet anchored in purpose.
If the flowing river becomes our guiding metaphor, what might change in how we lead, plan, and measure success? It is time to ask not how we return to solid ground, but how to flow more wisely.
