THE LEARNING CURVE

HOW TO BOUNCE BACK BETTER

Ruwandi Perera explains why antifragility is a skill that’s needed today

We have glorified the term ‘resilience’ over the past few years, and overused it in contexts ranging from organisational crisis management to nation building and personal development. 

Resilience is the ability to bounce back to where you were after facing a crisis, a problem or any kind of setback. It’s the goal of countries such as Sri Lanka, which have experienced economic crises, and the aim of organisations that need to navigate unforeseen challenges every day.

And what’s better than being resilient in these uncertain times, right? 

Yet, is resilience really the most needed, most sought after goal or mindset? 

Antifragility refers to going beyond resilience; it describes the ability of someone to not simply bounce back after a crisis or problematic situation but be better, stronger, more skilled and more innovative. 

It’s all about transitioning through stress and chaos… to adapt, grow and transform.

Though this isn’t a new concept, it’s currently gaining long overdue traction. It was first coined and introduced to the world in 2012 by Lebanese-American professor at the New York University Dr. Nassim Nicholas Taleb in his book titled ‘Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder.’ It’s part of a five volume philosophical series on uncertainty.

Taleb differentiates antifragility from similar and related concepts – such as fragility and robustness – using many analogies. One of the most interesting are mythical figures from the ancient world.

He likens fragility to Greek courtier Damocles who got into the bad books of Dionysius I. This led to him being seated at a grand feast directly under a sword that was hanging by a single horsehair. One small mishap would have killed him.

Robustness is associated with the Phoenix, which dies and is reborn from the ashes – and returns to the same state it was in before.

Antifragility is used to describe the multi-headed Hydra. When one head is cut off, two spring up in its place. This empowers the Hydra with more resources and power whenever it faces a crisis.

Antifragility is all about embracing stressors, albeit in small doses, and not avoiding them

Today’s sought after skills such as flexibility, agility, adaptability and uncertainty management result in us being antifragile, and to grow from and amid chaos. Antifragility can even be said to be more than a skill; it’s a mindset, way of life and path to evolution.

Sometimes, antifragility comes unbeknownst to us through post-traumatic growth. 

While a crisis can break some individuals, it can also empower others to develop better personalities and tougher skills, depending on how they perceive, handle and navigate it. This might happen consciously or subconsciously, voluntarily or non-voluntarily.

However, purposefully training our minds, bodies and emotions to be antifragile requires work that begins with how we view failures that are after all, the pillars of success. 

Viewing our mistakes as lessons rather than failures helps train our brains to stop making them. And before we know it, a series of small mistakes and errors can become a training programme we submit ourselves to.

Another more meticulous approach to developing antifragility is to practise controlled exposure where we succumb to small, controlled and manageable stressors, in order to build power, strength and skills.

Vaccinations are a good example of this process, where we inject small doses of a virus to help our bodies create resistance to it. 

Another example is weight training, where we lift weights to build muscle and improve metabolism, and progress by lifting heavier weights along the way. Our muscles may tear and our bodies might ache but we slowly become healthier and stronger.

Even trying new food, starting a hobby, taking a new route home from work or doing something different to our normal routines, pushes our brains, minds and bodies a little more every day – and we evolve into better selves as a result.

Antifragility is all about embracing stressors, albeit in small doses, and not avoiding them. A rosy life will be comfortable; but it will also leave us fragile when chaos hits. However, a life exposed to problems, uncertainty, issues and challenges will be one where we emerge stronger and antifragile.

And in this day and age where anything – from presidential decisions and geopolitical conflicts, to AI and climate change – can change the world, antifragility might be exactly what’s needed.