Conceptual Gridlock: Indecision from Information Overload
Chapter from the book: Karadirek, G. (ed.) 2026. Leadership in the Age of Uncertainty: Human, Innovation and Strategic Flexibility.

Yasemin Gülbahar
Ministry of Family Labour and Social Services of The Republic of Türkiye

Synopsis

This chapter focuses on the phenomenon of Conceptual Gridlock (Conceptual Gridlock) which is the greatest management challenge of modern organizations. Conceptual gridlock is a semantic and action crisis resulting from the excessive volume of rapidly changing and contradictory information triggered by digital transformation and global competition rather than a lack of information. Although this gridlock is seen by some circles as a consequence of Herbert Simon's Bounded Rationality theory, the real problem arises not from the individual's limited cognitive capacity struggling with exponential information growth, but from the organization's inability to adapt its information processing and filtering capacity to this speed. Information overload increases the extraneous load applied to the working memory thereby consuming cognitive resources. This destructive process leads to Cognitive Saturation Syndrome (CSS) at the individual level and Strategic Sensemaking Crisis (SSC) at the organizational level. These outcomes severely weaken the organization's core competitive capability, Learning Agility which is leading to innovation stagnation and performance loss. The chapter's main finding is that the solution to the gridlock lies not in accessing more information or restricting the amount of data, but in enhancing the organization's Cognitive Processing Capacity and Strategic Information Filtering Agility. Solutions include the development of individual metacognitive filtering strategies, simplified management structures with clarified decision-making authorities, and the application of the rule of proceeding with minimum necessary information. Organizations must establish agile and deliberate decision-making ecosystems to convert information into a strategic advantage.

How to cite this book

Gülbahar, Y. (2026). Conceptual Gridlock: Indecision from Information Overload. In: Karadirek, G. (ed.), Leadership in the Age of Uncertainty: Human, Innovation and Strategic Flexibility. Özgür Publications. DOI: https://doi.org/10.58830/ozgur.pub1270.c5174

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Published

March 19, 2026

DOI