Nasim Taleb has written an interesting book called Antifragile. Taleb talks about how, through embracing risk, nature has a way of applying stress to that risk. This, in turn, allows an entity to either fail or succeed under that stress and pressure. The stress related to embracing risk is what makes our society strong; as an illustration, did you know a regularly-stressed femur actually becomes stronger over time? In fact, they are known to become even stronger than concrete.

Some businesses–or people–thrive when there is upheaval by embracing uncertainty and benefiting from it. These folks are known as antifragile. Others who crave the status quo and safety try to control uncertainty rather than embrace it. These are the risk-adverse folks who, according to Taleb, ride the backs of those who strengthen themselves through embracing risk. They are fragile. As an entrepreneur, I’d characterize these types of people as a waste of space. Read more