Chapter 29

The Meta-Strategy: Becoming Anti-Fragile

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Nassim Taleb coined "anti-fragile" to describe things that get stronger under stress. Your career needs this property.

Anti-fragile career characteristics: - Multiple income streams - Transferable meta-skills - Strong network effects - Low fixed costs - High optionality

Example: Marcus was a corporate lawyer who saw AI disrupting legal research. Instead of competing, he: 1. Learned AI contract analysis tools 2. Built relationships with AI companies 3. Created a newsletter on AI and law 4. Launched a consultancy helping law firms adopt AI 5. Developed online courses on legal AI

Result: Five income streams, each reinforcing the others. When GPT-4 made his contract analysis service obsolete, his training business exploded. Anti-fragile in action.