Resilience, the ability to absorb shocks and bounce back from adversity, is widely considered the most critical quality to thrive in the VUCA era. Fuelled by the recent pandemic, a Black Swan unpredicted and potentially catastrophic event, the concept of organisational anti-fragility has become an area of increased interest. Anti-fragile organisations do nothing just survive, they thrive and capitalise on adversity.
Brendan Markey-Towler’s theory takes this further and suggests that a specific personality type, the ‘anti-fragile personality’ is not only able to cope best in the increasingly uncertain environment but to grow when faced with challenging, unanticipated events. Anti-fragility in this context is the ability to grow both ability and knowledge in unexpected extreme adversity; the ability to be open to new information under pressure, the flexibility to accommodate new ideas and make sense of them rapidly. Anti-fragile or ‘hero’ personalities not only handle Black Swan events, but they also actively seek out change, challenge and the unexpected for personal growth. Drawing on psychological literature and specifically the ‘Big 5’ personality traits, the author provides a clear description of the anti-fragile personality that can be identified with existing profiling tools.
This article also explores the challenges of attracting, retaining and accommodating these valuable personalities in “steadier state” contexts and how to overcome them including nurturing and embedding organisation-wide anti-fragile attitudes and behaviours. Whilst not many may have an anti-fragile personality by nature, the underlying key qualities can be developed. We have incorporated these concepts in our work developing key talent to lead effectively and providing the right environment for them to thrive so that our clients are equipped to excel whatever the world has to throw at them.
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