Have you found yourself confused when searching for resilience solutions your team? Or perhaps you have stumbled upon some articles that espouse the merits of anti-fragility.
My clients do, so I thought we could unpack them a bit here.
Resilience and anti-fragility are two important concepts that describe how systems, individuals, or organisations respond to challenges and adversity. While both are valuable traits and skills to develop, they differ.
Resilience
Resilience is the ability to adapt to change, recover from difficulties, and persist in facing challenges. It’s often described as the capacity to “bounce back” after experiencing stress or adversity.
– Allows for recovery to the original state
– Helps maintain stability in the face of stress
– Enables adaptation to change
Think of a rubber band that stretches under pressure but returns to its original shape once the stress is removed. That’s what is described as resilience.
Anti-fragility
Anti-fragility, a concept introduced by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, goes beyond resilience. It describes systems (including you and your team) that not only withstand shocks but improve and grow stronger because of stress, volatility, or disorder.
– Thrives on volatility and uncertainty
– Improves and grows stronger from challenges
– Gains from disorder and chaos
An anti-fragile system is comparable to the mythical Hydra, which grew two heads when one was cut off, becoming stronger through adversity.
Also, think of a gym session and you fatigue your muscles, they break to grow. But you need rest and recovery to do this.
Let’s compare resilience and anti-fragility now.
Comparison
| Resilience | Anti-fragility | |
| Response to stress | Returns to original state | Improves and grow |
| Goal | Stability and recovery | Growth, learning and enhancement |
| Outcome after challenge | Same as before | Better than before |
Applications
Resilience:
– Personal development: Bouncing back from setbacks
– Business: Keeping operations during crises
– Ecosystems: Recovering from environmental disturbances
Anti-fragility:
– Investing: Taleb’s “barbell strategy” of combining safe and risky investments. Eg. Not all eggs in one basket.
– Supply chain management: Creating networks that adapt and improve in response to disruptions- get good friends, environment and resources that support growth and learning
– Personal growth: Viewing obstacles as opportunities for development and learning
Growing Both Qualities
While anti-fragility may seem superior (I like it more I must admit), both resilience and anti-fragility have their place. Resilience is crucial for supporting stability, while anti-fragility allows for growth and improvement through challenges.
So
- Embrace challenges as opportunities for growth- especially when the new things to do are outside your comfort zone.
- Build flexibility into systems including you!
- Rest, restore and reflect to get stronger
- Learn from failures and adapt when needed
What do you think?
Want to know how to be more resilient and anti-fragile? I have one more week to catch up before I go on a meditation retreat.
I will fill you in next week 😊
Warmly,
Michelle
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