Antifragile business stops choosing to reject what makes it stronger

Business success is never assured. And that is correct. Viewing business in monochrome overlooks less desirable but critical commercial hues.

Business literature rarely states failure is vital to the economy. But it is. Businesses fail so those remaining strengthen through learning from mistakes. Business students and tomorrow's entrepreneurs recognise the economy needs failure.

If every business experienced indefinite success, global commerce would collapse. As economic stability dwindled, consumers would suffer.

Nature's winners and losers emerge and fade away, mirroring the commerce cycle. But businesses face extra, unwelcome threats: unnatural influences disrupting order.

For example: large conglomerates and multinationals eradicate all competition. Greed and commercial genocide replacing predatory survival instincts. Perverting ethical business practice.

Surviving a merciless jungle means less fragile business. Thriving in harsh conditions means better antifragility. But it's unfortunate: many businesses achieve nether less fragility nor more antifragility.

Antifragility benefits businesses like a natural system. Shock and stress provide strength.

Businesses sprinting towards destruction must stop and improve. They must tear apart existing rulebooks. The must abandon obsolete, archaic practices and beliefs to embrace modern thinking. They must stop choosing to reject what makes them stronger.

• Choose new ideas to forge an alternative future and avert boom-and-bust cycles. Following worn-out principles provides no stability.
• Being fooled by last century's so-called 'standards' indicates a lack of wisdom.

Businesses must recognise they're Complex Adaptive Systems. They're don't respond to centralised command-and-control. They're formed of diverse sets of interconnected agents behaving as a whole. Each agent learns from experience and is proactive in adjusting to change.

Moreover, each agent is an independent Complex Adaptive System, learning, adjusting and interacting. Businesses are thus complex ecosystems. And business success depends on the sum behaviour of all agents. It is vital to embrace diverse skills, knowledge and experience.

• Choose testable perception and decision-making acumen ahead of what looks good on paper.
• End reliance on theoretical knowledge. Choose first-hand, practical skills, experience and insight—be less vulnerable.
• Dismiss spurious paperwork, pointless certificates and irrelevant diplomas. Strengthen potential weaknesses with in-the-field experience.

ADAPTIVE LEADERSHIP & PEOPLE FIRST | ANTIFRAGILITY | BUSINESS CAPABILITY & MATURITY | CHANGE FACILITATION | CRITICAL THINKING & GOVERNANCE | CUSTOMER FOCUS & SERVICE ORIENTATION | DYSFUNCTION & DEVIL'S ADVOCATE | EMERGENT BEHAVIOUR | EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE | INNOVATION & CREATIVITY | JUDGEMENT & PROBLEM SOLVING | PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS & LEAN THINKING | STRATEGIC PLANNING | WORDS & LITERACY

Please contact us at Matsuda Mulville—the home of Matsuda Mulville Thinking—if you need help with any of these topics.

We are a critical thinking consultancy solving complex problems. We pursue innovation, creativity, disruption and continuous improvement. As a Devil’s Advocate, we make a difference transforming dysfunction into success. And we advocate strength through emergent behaviours and antifragility—gaining from disorder.

And we would love to respond to any writing needs you have, too.

http://www.matsudamulville.nl

(Peter Mulville has over 25-years’ professional, globally-focused experience at senior and executive level. His passions are words and literacy, resolving dysfunction, change facilitation, knowledge-sharing and improvements. Peter demonstrates structured adaptability and rigorous agility dealing with processes, projects and portfolios. Motivated by people-first, customer orientation, administration and quality, he's a skilled international leader.)

Keywords: #MatsudaMulville #MatsudaMulvilleThinking #AdaptiveLeadership #Antifragility #BusinessMaturity #EmergentBehaviour #PeopleFirst

 Image by Mirko Kaminski from Pixabay