Whenever a new business is launched, it’s long-term survival is a key aim.This is symbolized by a “Built to Last” mentality, a theme popularized by management guru Jim Collins, co-author of a popular business book by the same name.
The evolution of a business can be very ephemeral and uncertain. Moreover, poorly designed systems, mismanagement, and neglect can quickly sink a company. This symbolizes a terribly weak, fragile infrastructure. For often it’s not outside influence that destroys a company but rather inside neglect.
In his bestselling book Antifragile, author and prominent thought-leader Nassim Taleb explores a concept known as fragility through the lens of the following metaphor:
At some point, you’ve likely received a package in the mail at some point in your life marked:
FRAGILE: PLEASE HANDLE WITH CARE
But have you ever received a box that says
PLEASE MISHANDLE THIS BOX AND DROP IT?
Most likely you haven’t
In Taleb’s taxonomy, fragility reflects the inclination to ignore risks. Or to be overwhelmed in monitoring the risks in an attempt to survive and prevent disaster.
That’s the state of many companies and their document systems — they’re massively unprepared for unforeseen risks, what Taleb affectionately refers to as “Black Swan events.” An example of this would be a major compliance audit, where a company discovers major deficiencies in their document systems.
So what is the antithesis of fragile? Given that we don’t really even have a word define it, Taleb took it upon himself to invent it.
And he calls it:
To approach this from an antifragile point of view means to do so with strength, wisdom, systems, and resources. This allows a company to not only survive, but prosper amidst the uncertainty, and turbulence of these events.
In explaining his own personal proclivities in terms of antifragility, Taleb is fond of saying:
“I want to live happily in a world I don’t understand.”
Skin In The Game
“Skin in the game” according to Taleb is the foundation of risk management. As he says, “The symmetry of skin in the game is a simple rule that’s necessary for fairness and justice and the ultimate BS-buster. Furthermore, he says: “Never trust anyone who doesn’t have skin in the game. Without it, fools and crooks will benefit, and their mistakes will never come back to haunt them.”
Chuck Williams, Lead Developer for Equa and huge fan of Taleb “antifragility” model argues that business owners, investors, entrepreneurs, change-makers, innovators, creators, and builders all inherently recognize that an important attribute that should never get lost in the shuffle irrespective of how much money a company makes is the reward of a personal achievement that aligns with one’s identity. In fact, it is for this very reason, he believes, that our identity is often wrapped up in the work and projects to which we are most dedicated.
Says Williams:
“Equa enables participants to manage their portions of “skin” (identity), in the form of legally recognized equity (backed BOTH by reviewed legal documentation, and blockchain-enabled asset issuance of stock & equity agreements) and allocate these across and among multiple organizations within their networks and communities.”
According to Williams, we call this “ownership.” Being an owner of an organization, project, or even simple task, he believes, measurably improves results for EVERYONE involved.
“As an “Agreements Service Management Platform” the #1 goal of Equa is to structure, maintain, protect, solidify, communicate, and amend AGREEMENTS. In business, ALL failures and ruin can be easily traced back to failures in an agreement due to the lack of or failure to effectively execute these types of agreement activities.”
Williams goes on to note that company agreements that are not structured properly with regulators may lead to the IRS, SEC, or CFTC knocking at your door.
“Failure to maintain these filings can get you slapped with fines, or worse, shut-down by government agencies. Moreover, a lack of due diligence in protecting the authenticity of your agreements can leave you with a worthless bill of goods.”
Concludes Williams:
“Communications, finalizations, and amendment of agreements manifest as Operating Agreements, Board Meetings, and Voting activities. All of these activities are centered on keeping organization agreements alive, functional, relevant, pragmatic, and true. This greatly reduces the risk of ruin for any organization.”
