SEPTEMBER 7 — It’s been three years since Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s book, Anti-Fragile: Things That Gain From Disorder was published. The only time I’ve heard it used in a corporate setting was when a trainer told us he recently bought the book. That’s it. Nothing from our ministers, our CEOs, our leaders, etc.

Taleb’s book explores these questions: Are we like a vase which cracks easily or gets smashed to bits if enough force is exerted? Or are you a rock which can resist shock? Or, is our strength like a news leak which spreads faster with every attempt to snuff it out?

Let’s look at these three concepts below:

1. FRAGILE

This is anything that weakens in greater proportion to external stress, anything which craves stability because life becomes unbearable in the face of pressure.

Financial systems. Pak Lah, Najib, Tunku Abdul Rahman in the 60s. Academia. Fundamentalist religions. Office execs who love status and hierarchy. Over-protective parents. The British in Malaya. Students obsessed with As. Syria and every other nation run by megalomaniacs who don’t lose any sleep when millions suffer and die.

Much of our world is defined by fragility. If you’re unkind to people, you’re fragile to the very second people no longer need to kow-tow to you. If you over-spend regularly, you’re fragile to every “cool” ad or mega-sale. If you eat like me (sigh), you’re fragile to cholesterol. If you believe in numbers too much, you’re fragile to the turkey illusion.

Corporations work like crazy to get the numbers, yet can go from black to red between CNY and the World Cup. I’ve been telling whoever cares to listen to please remember the lesson of the sub-prime crisis. 

Never EVER chuck all your investments in one basket simply because everything looks fantastic. My biggest concern is especially for those who keep buying property after property who keep telling themselves that ‘the property market will never collapse.

Pak Lah’s Islam Hadhari couldn’t survive the onslaught of those who preferred another version of how faith should affect the country. Good ol’ Tunku himself saw the end of his career even before May 1969 happened. And see what the Japs did in 1942? Percival’s troops caved in to the Sushi boys so fast you thought maybe the British were firing blanks.

Fragility is all over the place. Our highways are just one careless turn from a sprawling 10-km traffic jam. Our football team recently proved that one goal is the gateway to 10. Our post-SPMers and graduates are just one uncertain project or task away from exposing how much they lack in capability.  

This is also the situation faced by political parties which are practically defined by money politics and corruption. Sooner or later, everything goes south.

2. ROBUST

This is anything that remains more or less the same regardless of pressure. Resilient and strong, it prefers stability but can handle external strain.

The Vatican. Lim Kit Siang. Facebook. Love. Legal systems. Healthy bodies. Strong governments. Popular writers. Forests and eco-systems. A good car driven well. Disciplined students.

This category is a good notch above Fragility. If we get here in our personal and professional lives? ‘Tis damn good dah. At this level, nothing can destroy us. We’re relatively safe, we’re productive and we’ve eliminated all major risks.

My uncle stores six months’ worth of food in his storeroom — that’s robust. I have some students who I know will never fail their subjects no matter how hard they party — that’s robust (compared to some top students who are just one bad paper from a nervous breakdown). 

Singapore’s National Service ensures that should the island be invaded, the invaders will need to take on practically the entire adult male population — that’s robust (and don’t ask me about Malaysia’s N.S.). 

A sizeable FD account — that’s robust. A tough local economy independent of imports — that’s robust (ditto the sad story of the ringgit). Comprehensive insurance — that’s robust. Good family connections that will vouch and fight for you — that’s robust. Strong political grassroots support — again, robust.

A bit of kia-see isn’t entirely a bad thing. Ensure you “cannot die.” Then go out and do brave things.

To be robust is essentially to be a steady level for, like, forever. No matter what happens, you’ll never fall.

Unfortunately, what do a lot of folks do should they be so blessed with a million bucks or more? They go berserk. They buy like there’s no tomorrow and no yesterday. They take up “investments” with financial advisors whom they believe possess a degree in prophesying. In other words, rich folks who can choose to behave robustly have a tendency to act fragile.

Just ask that doctor who sold his bungalow to buy Genneva Gold.

3. ANTI-FRAGILE  

Compare Bersih with Anti-Bersih. The more you attack folks like Ambiga and Maria Chin Abdullah, the stronger the popular support. The more certain parties defend their world-class donations, the more Malaysians will march and demand justice. Rama Ramanathan had a good point. He said the best person to thank for the success of Bersih was the PM himself. 

But Anti-Bersih? Gaya-maya buat silat show on Tuesday evening but by Thursday afternoon dah cancel involvement. Kena mock sikit-sikit tak nak main.

In other words, Bersih was anti-fragile, Anti-Bersih was fragile (to the tile-smashed bone). Anti-fragile is anything which not only stands firm in the face of pressure, but in fact grows and gets stronger.

Desire. Authentic learning. Ponzi schemes. The hydra. Sherlock Holmes. ISIS. Mao’s Cultural Revolution. WhatsApp. Controversial movies. Rock stars. Late Mahathir. United States military. Capitalism. Planet Earth. Curiosity. Students who truly love learning. Sacrificial spirituality.

One of my former bosses used to tell me that he loves it when competitors try to take him down — because this only spurs him to annihilate them. Management guru Tom Peters had a similar characteristic; he’s known as the guy who is “never happy unless he’s pissed off.” 

What about organisations?

If the public bad-mouths your company on social media, do all your fans rally to defend you, lifting you up even further in the process, securing an even wider customer base? Or is your fragile revenue vulnerable to just one or two dubious tweets?

I’m guessing this is why Facebook and Google demand continuous change and updates; there’s got to be something new every now and then. Stability is depressing for the anti-fragile.

Finally, what happens to our personal lives when times are down? When our loved ones do unexpectedly chaotic or stupid things, do we love them even more? When our bank accounts dry up suddenly, do we produce creative ways of showing generosity, or do we drive up to Genting and throw our money away in dice and drink? When people all around us get depressed due to economic or political factors, do we perform better, work harder, and feel even more motivated?

So, again, are you a teapot that breaks easily, a stone that can withstand hammering or a hydra that can’t wait for people to attack?

I’ve started a discussion group on Linked-In, Anti-Fragile in Malaysia. Jom?

* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.