Fragile people and systems seek to eliminate variability, noise, and tension. Because fragile people and systems don’t have built-in responses to stress and variability, they naively try to eliminate it completely from the equation.

But trying to eliminate randomness and variability is a loser’s game. It’s simply not possible. Remember, randomness and variability are the rule, not the exception.

Not only is trying to eliminate stress and variability a lost cause, it ends up making an already fragile person or system even more fragile.

Brett and Kate McKay summarize Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s case for moving beyond resilience to “antifragility,” or becoming stronger in the case of chaos:

Becoming Antifragile: Beyond “Sissy” Resilience