What is Antifragility?

The term antifragility was made popular by Nassim Nicholas Taleb in his book ‘Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder’. 

In a nutshell, the idea is that we move on from being resilient enough to bounce back from adversity, and we embrace the chaos, challenge or failure, and use it to grow, learn and improve.  Many people have had enough of being told they need to be more resilient!

Consider these definitions:

Fragile: Objects or systems that are easily broken or disrupted by stressors, shocks, or volatility.

Robust: Objects or systems that can withstand stressors, shocks, or volatility without significant damage.

Antifragile: Objects or systems that not only withstand stressors, shocks, or volatility but also thrive, adapt, and improve from them.

Now let’s apply these definitions to Feedback Fitness:

Fragile: People who are easily broken or disrupted by feedback that results in stress or shock, and their confidence and work performance is reduced.

Robust: People who can withstand stress or shock of feedback without significant damage to their confidence and work performance.

Antifragile: People who not only withstand the stress and shock when receiving feedback, they also thrive, adapt, and improve from receiving it, their confidence and work performance improves.