Cognitive State Dynamics Model (ICSD): a state-based view of innovation

This position paper introduces the Cognitive State Dynamics Model (ICSD), a state-based framework that reconceptualizes innovation as an emergent property of internal cognitive system dynamics. ICSD proposes a framework for understanding innovation not as a linear output process, but as a transition between evolving internal states governed by coherence, entropy, and external constraint pressure.
At the core of ICSD lies the integration of the EICI + TACC architecture. The TACC cycle (Thinking–Assimilation–Creation–Checking), originally developed in Pérez Pulido (2026d), defines the temporal processing dynamics of cognitive states. EICI governs the coupling between external constraint pressure and internal coherence formation.
The framework identifies four cognitive state regimes: Δ+1 (generative coherence), CI=0 (threshold oscillation — the organizational signature of the flat curve), Δ−1 (collapse), and the hyperdiffuse state (entropy-dominated, innovation theatre).
ICSD is intended as a complementary layer rather than an alternative to environmental innovation frameworks. It proposes the internal counterpart to models such as IDEA Flow (El Hadi, 2026), psychological safety theory (Edmondson, 1999), and exploration-exploitation theory (March, 1991) — providing the generative mechanism that explains why enabling conditions work when they work, and why they fail when the internal cognitive state has collapsed.
Keywords: cognitive state dynamics; organizational innovation; EICI; TACC cycle; coherence-entropy balance; metastable generative regime; complex systems; creative cognition.
Author: Carlos J. Pérez Pulido — Founder & Director of Research, ISHEA Institute. ORCID: 0009-0004-1822-4798. OSF Mother Project: 10.17605/OSF.IO/4K9JZ