What does your sticker say?
Antifragile
The postman that I reported for carelessly placing the mail in different boxes decided to pay me back. Instead of placing my package on the porch, he decided to throw it underneath my car tire. He did not know if I had something fragile in the box. He was acting Spell Bound. That is the best that I can describe him with out being ugly. I on the other hand could not decide if I wanted to be fragile, robust or antifragile. In the moment thinking about what was in the box, I forgot that I was trying to Lead with nothing to lose. I mapped out what I was going to do because I was meaning to let him know that I would not be treated without dignity. Soon I remembered that this did not sound like leadership, not rare leadership. I was indeed acting fragile and I needed to be Antifragile to get the results that I needed. I needed to assess my identity and reclaim my dignity. in this blog I chose to stick to the topic of defining Antifragile.
Taleb sets out to teach us how to gain from disorder. Though stated in a humorous tone. I explained a real life incident that could have gone a different route with the wrong person. What is it that happens or is gained when this type disorder occurs? I would think that after being reported some type of reprimand, training, and intervention would happen. The route of the postman would have to be switched. What I did not think about was the change and growth that needed to happen inside of me. This event was also offering me and opportunity to learn as well. Taleb uses the example of building structure to help us realize that there is something to gain when there are also black swan event. He describes a Black Swan as events that are random and rare but make great impacts on the people directly or indirectly involved. He states that when a building falls (fails), the subsequent buildings in most places are built stronger because they will learn from that disasters mistakes. The impact of the event caused contractors to look closer at what the problem was and work harder to ensure that what they build will last.
Taleb teaches us that “antifragile loves randomness and uncertainty”. He claims that we are victims of “neomania” as we try to predict what will happen next. He states that our answer to this is progress. We continue to create in efforts to figure out a way of predicting things before they happen. The life that Taleb states will be less anxiety provoking is the life of the antifragile. In conclusion, assessing what tape we will wear when a random event occurs can only be predicted in that moment.
Taleb, Nassim Nicholas. Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder. Random House, 2016.
About the Author
Shonell Dillon
A daughter of the KING of kings and the LORD of lords. A lover of LIFE!One response to “What does your sticker say?”
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Shonell, I enjoyed reading your post and all your references to the books we have read this semester! I feel your pain with that postman. We have one who consistently just dumps packages wherever they find it convenient, or shoves a box that does not fit into our mailbox making it near impossible to get out! I appreciate your comment, “What I did not think about was the change and growth that needed to happen inside of me.” It is not always easy to choose the path of growth.