Antifragile systems are configured for adaptability
The key to designing antifragile systems is linking elements together in ways that allow them to reconfigure or adapt. This requires shifting from predicting the (unknowable) future to reconfiguring for robustness. Said differently, the volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity of a complex environment is best navigated by a complex, interlinked network.
Robustness is achieved by strengthening parts of the system (the pyramid); resilience is the result of linking elements that allow them to reconfigure or adapt in response to change or damage (the coral reef).
The key lies in shifting our focus from predicting to reconfiguring. By embracing humility—recognizing the inevitability of surprises and unknowns—and concentrating on systems that can survive and indeed benefit from such surprises, we can triumph over volatility.[1]
#systems-thinking #complex-systems #antifragility
See also:
- Increasing the stability and efficiency of a system is at the cost of flexibility
- Resilience Thinking creates antifragile systems
- Antifragile Systems become stronger with shocks
- Complex systems are characterized by VUCA
- Complex systems exhibit emergent behavior
source: Team of Teams – McChrystal, et al. (2015), ch. 4, “The Threat from Behind.” ↩︎