Antifragile

Things That Gain from Disorder

Nassim Nicholas Taleb

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English

Random House
27 November 2012

Philosophy; Psychology; Business & management

Series: Incerto

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Antifragile focuses on how to deal with uncertainty and even benefit from volatility. Taleb calls this being antifragile, meaning more than simply being robust or resilient, because you not only withstand change and setbacks but you grow and benefit from them. The idea is not to guess or even understand what the future might bring but instead look for options that have upside but little downside. Large benefits and benign harm. He is very much on the side of doing rather than thinking and advocates the notion of tinkering, or the 'fail fast, fail small' way of doing things. The trial and error of things with reversible or benign mistakes, but with large potential upside - these are the options to look for.

Taleb's provocative style make this book move along - it is not a dry read. Moreover, it is a broad philosophical approach to many parts of our lives. Taleb combines the wisdom of the ancients with what he sees as 'real knowledge', learned on the streets in 'the school of hard knocks'. Some of the most engaging sections are where he uses a street-savvy character called Fat Tony when illustrating the difference between what you need to know and what 'suckers' think they know. Taleb is full of disdain for economists and the predictions business, feels concerned for fragile university-trained bureaucrats and takes a dim view of Theory, over-intellectualising and confusion caused by too much data. This makes him confronting for some and entertaining for others.

I invite you to test your world-view for its antifragility by spending some time with Nassim Nicholas Taleb and Fat Tony. ~ Craig

-----

In The Black Swan, Taleb showed us that highly improbable and unpredictable events underlie almost everything about our world. Here Taleb stands uncertainty on its head, making it desirable, even necessary. The antifragile is beyond the resilient or robust. The resilient resists shocks and stays the same; the antifragile gets better and better. Just as human bones get stronger when subjected to stress and tension, many things in life benefit from stress, disorder, volatility, and turmoil. What Taleb has identified and calls antifragile are things that not only gain from chaos but need it in order to survive and flourish. What's more, the antifragile is immune to prediction errors and protected from adverse events.

Why is the city-state better than the nation-state, why is debt bad for you, and why is what we call efficient is not efficient at all? Why should you write your resignation letter before starting on the job? How did the sinking of the Titanic save lives? Antifragile is a blueprint for living in a Black Swan world. Erudite, witty, and iconoclastic, Taleb's message is revolutionary: the antifragile, and only the antifragile, will make it.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb has devoted his life to problems of uncertainty, probability, and knowledge and has led three careers around this focus, as a businessman-trader, a philosophical essayist, and an academic researcher. Although he now spends most of his time working in intense seclusion in his study, in the manner of independent scholars, he is currently Distinguished Professor of Risk Engineering at New York University's Polytechnic Institute. His main subject matter is decision making under opacity, that is, a map and a protocol on how we should live in a world we don't understand. His books Fooled by Randomness and The Black Swan have been published in thirty-three languages. Taleb believes that prizes, honorary degrees, awards, and ceremonialism debase knowledge by turning it into a spectator sport.

By: Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Imprint: Random House
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 243mm, Width: 161mm, Spine: 34mm
Weight: 828g
ISBN: 9781400067824
ISBN 10: 1400067820
Series: Incerto
Pages: 544
Publication Date: 27 November 2012
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Nassim Nicholas Taleb has devoted his life to problems of uncertainty, probability, and knowledge. He spent nearly two decades as a businessman and quantitative trader before becoming a full-time philosophical essayist and academic researcher in 2006. Although he spends most of his time in the intense seclusion of his study, or as a flaneur meditating in cafes, he is currently Distinguished Professor of Risk Engineering at New York University's Polytechnic Institute. His main subject matter is decision making under opacity --that is, a map and a protocol on how we should live in a world we don't understand. <br> Taleb's books have been published in thirty-three languages.

Reviews for Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder

Ambitious and thought-provoking . . . highly entertaining. --The Economist A bold book explaining how and why we should embrace uncertainty, randomness, and error . . . It may just change our lives. --Newsweek Revelatory . . . [Taleb] pulls the reader along with the logic of a Socrates. --Chicago Tribune Startling . . . richly crammed with insights, stories, fine phrases and intriguing asides . . . I will have to read it again. And again. --Matt Ridley, The Wall Street Journal Trenchant and persuasive . . . Taleb's insatiable polymathic curiosity knows no bounds. . . . You finish the book feeling braver and uplifted. --New Statesman Antifragility isn't just sound economic and political doctrine. It's also the key to a good life. --Fortune At once thought-provoking and brilliant. --Los Angeles Times [Taleb] writes as if he were the illegitimate spawn of David Hume and Rev. Bayes, with some DNA mixed in from Norbert Weiner and Laurence Sterne. . . . Taleb is writing original stuff--not only within the management space but for readers of any literature--and . . . you will learn more about more things from this book and be challenged in more ways than by any other book you have read this year. Trust me on this. --Harvard Business Review By far my favorite book among several good ones published in 2012. In addition to being an enjoyable and interesting read, Taleb's new book advances general understanding of how different systems operate, the great variation in how they respond to unthinkables, and how to make them more adaptable and agile. His systemic insights extend very well to company-specific operational issues--from ensuring that mistakes provide a learning process to the importance of ensuring sufficient transparency to the myriad of specific risk issues. --Mohamed El-Erian, CEO of PIMCO, Bloomberg -Ambitious and thought-provoking . . . highly entertaining.---The Economist -A bold book explaining how and why we should embrace uncertainty, randomness, and error . . . It may just change our lives.---Newsweek -Revelatory . . . [Taleb] pulls the reader along with the logic of a Socrates.---Chicago Tribune -Startling . . . richly crammed with insights, stories, fine phrases and intriguing asides . . . I will have to read it again. And again.---Matt Ridley, The Wall Street Journal -Trenchant and persuasive . . . Taleb's insatiable polymathic curiosity knows no bounds. . . . You finish the book feeling braver and uplifted.---New Statesman -Antifragility isn't just sound economic and political doctrine. It's also the key to a good life.---Fortune -At once thought-provoking and brilliant.---Los Angeles Times -[Taleb] writes as if he were the illegitimate spawn of David Hume and Rev. Bayes, with some DNA mixed in from Norbert Weiner and Laurence Sterne. . . . Taleb is writing original stuff--not only within the management space but for readers of any literature--and . . . you will learn more about more things from this book and be challenged in more ways than by any other book you have read this year. Trust me on this.---Harvard Business Review -By far my favorite book among several good ones published in 2012. In addition to being an enjoyable and interesting read, Taleb's new book advances general understanding of how different systems operate, the great variation in how they respond to unthinkables, and how to make them more adaptable and agile. His systemic insights extend very well to company-specific operational issues--from ensuring that mistakes provide a learning process to the importance of ensuring sufficient transparency to the myriad of specific risk issues.---Mohamed El-Erian, CEO of PIMCO, Bloomberg Ambitious and thought-provoking . . . highly entertaining. The Economist A bold book explaining how and why we should embrace uncertainty, randomness, and error . . . It may just change our lives. Newsweek Revelatory . . . [Taleb] pulls the reader along with the logic of a Socrates. Chicago Tribune Startling . . . richly crammed with insights, stories, fine phrases and intriguing asides . . . I will have to read it again. And again. Matt Ridley, The Wall Street Journal Trenchant and persuasive . . . Taleb s insatiable polymathic curiosity knows no bounds. . . . You finish the book feeling braver and uplifted. New Statesman Antifragility isn t just sound economic and political doctrine. It s also the key to a good life. Fortune At once thought-provoking and brilliant. Los Angeles Times [Taleb] writes as if he were the illegitimate spawn of David Hume and Rev. Bayes, with some DNA mixed in from Norbert Weiner and Laurence Sterne. . . . Taleb is writing original stuff not only within the management space but for readers of any literature and . . . you will learn more about more things from this book and be challenged in more ways than by any other book you have read this year. Trust me on this. Harvard Business Review By far my favorite book among several good ones published in 2012. In addition to being an enjoyable and interesting read, Taleb s new book advances general understanding of how different systems operate, the great variation in how they respond to unthinkables, and how to make them more adaptable and agile. His systemic insights extend very well to company-specific operational issues from ensuring that mistakes provide a learning process to the importance of ensuring sufficient transparency to the myriad of specific risk issues. Mohamed El-Erian, CEO of PIMCO, Bloomberg Praise for Antifragile Taleb takes on everything from the mistakes of modern architecture to the dangers of meddlesome doctors and how overrated formal education is. . . . An ambitious and thought-provoking read . . . highly entertaining. -- The Economist This is a bold, entertaining, clever book, richly crammed with insights, stories, fine phrases and intriguing asides. . . . I will have to read it again. And again. -- The Wall Street Journal [Taleb] writes as if he were the illegitimate spawn of David Hume and Rev. Bayes, with some DNA mixed in from Norbert Weiner and Laurence Sterne. . . . Taleb is writing original stuff--not only within the management space but for readers of any literature--and . . . you will learn more about more things from this book and be challenged in more ways than by any other book you have read this year. Trust me on this. -- Harvard Business Review By far my favorite book among several good ones published in 2012. In addition to being an enjoyable and interesting read, Taleb's new book advances general understanding of how different systems operate, the great variation in how they respond to unthinkables, and how to make them more adaptable and agile. His systemic insights extend very well to company-specific operational issues--from ensuring that mistakes provide a learning process to the importance of ensuring sufficient transparency to the myriad of specific risk issues. --Mohamed El-Erian, CEO of PIMCO, Bloomberg What sometimes goes unsaid about Taleb is that he's a very funny writer. Taleb has a finely tuned BS detector, which he wields throughout the book to debunk pervasive yet pernicious ideas. . . . Antifragility isn't just sound economic and political doctrine. It's also the key to a good life. -- Fortune Praise for Nicholas Nassim Taleb [Taleb writes] in a style that owes as much to Stephen Colbert as it does to Michel de Montaigne. -- The Wall Street Journal Praise for Antifragile Taleb takes on everything from the mistakes of modern architecture to the dangers of meddlesome doctors and how overrated formal education is. . . . An ambitious and thought-provoking read . . . highly entertaining. -- The Economist This is a bold, entertaining, clever book, richly crammed with insights, stories, fine phrases and intriguing asides. . . . I will have to read it again. And again. -- The Wall Street Journal [Taleb] writes as if he were the illegitimate spawn of David Hume and Rev. Bayes, with some DNA mixed in from Norbert Weiner and Laurence Sterne. . . . Taleb is writing original stuff--not only within the management space but for readers of any literature--and . . . you will learn more about more things from this book and be challenged in more ways than by any other book you have read this year. Trust me on this. -- Harvard Business Review Praise for Nicholas Nassim Taleb [Taleb writes] in a style that owes as much to Stephen Colbert as it does to Michel de Montaigne. -- The Wall Street Journal The most prophetic voice of all . . . [Taleb is] a genuinely significant philosopher . . . someone who is able to change the way we view the structure of the world through the strength, originality and veracity of his ideas alone. --GQ Changed my view of how the world works. --Daniel Kahneman, Nobel laureate Altered modern thinking. --The Times (London) Praise for Nicholas Nassim Taleb [Taleb writes] in a style that owes as much to Stephen Colbert as it does to Michel de Montaigne. -- The Wall Street Journal The most prophetic voice of all . . . [Taleb is] a genuinely significant philosopher . . . someone who is able to change the way we view the structure of the world through the strength, originality and veracity of his ideas alone. --GQ Changed my view of how the world works. --Daniel Kahneman, Nobel laureate Altered modern thinking. --The Times (London)