How to Become AntifragileRead: Ecclesiastes 11:2 Habit: Service

I / ing Solomon was both wealthier and wiser than any other king in the anciemother kings would even consult with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had given(see 2Ch 9:22-23). One of the lessons he taught them —and us—about investing isin Ecclesiastes 11.2: "Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight; you do not know What dimay come upon the land."

This advice to "not put all your eggs in one basket" is sound, but can seem ratherceptional, But as with most Biblical wisdom, it can have broad applications tnot be obvious. For instance, the verse can inspire us to live in a way that is

Fragile items break when under stress and resilient items recover from stress. Butdo we call items that actually get stronger under stress? Because no word existedconcept, Nassim Nicholas Taleb coined the term "antifragile" to describe peoplqotions or systems that benefit from obstacles, unexpected events and change.9Anis the ancient Greek myth of the Hydra, a serpent-like water monster that hadheads, If you cut off one of the Hydra's heads, two would grow back in its place,the creature even stronger than before.

The concept of antifragility can and should be applied to many of ourciplines," from habit formation to vocation. But let's consider some of the ways it can beapplied to service, our means of serving God through serving the needs of our neighbon(See also "What Is Service?" on page 1217.)

Diversify—lf your service is tied to onlyone person, group or organization, anunexpected disruption can lead you to feeldefeated and discouraged. Better to followSolomon's advice to invest in several differ-ent service ventures.Expect failure and disappointment—lf youserve your neighbor you can expect to be letdowns The homeless person might use the

Nassim NicholasTaleb coined the term

"antifragile" to describepeople, organizations or

systems that benefit from Gobstacles, unexpected

events and change.

money you gave for alcohol. The young woman you helped find a job might stealher employer. The family you comfort might betray you and express ingratitude&rhdisappointments can be crushing if they are unexpected, and can discourage us 'serving. But if we are expecting failure (and diversifying our service ventures), weuse these setbacks as learning opportunities that help us to become better servant.leaders.

Make lots of smaller investments—Sometimes service requires that we go "all in'make a radical change, such as becoming a missionary and moving to another cot#nent. But more often it requires lesser actions that demand less of our time, attentiooand focus. Because they require less, we can afford to make more of these types dinvestments. Spreading the service around allows God to use our efforts in ways wecould have never foreseen,

Simplify—Complexity can lead to fragility. If your service requires significant amounts -

Reading continued on next page.

814

or money you will be unable to serve when those elements are lacking,

energy to reduce the inputs needed to serve to make it more difficult for

far as possible,

"break."

tryThis isn't an excuse to be stingy with your resources, of course.

toarding them will help to ensure you are able to deliver on good service

carefully stew

d just have

• good

Despite

intentions.

our best efforts, obstacles in life (e.g., a death in the fam-

Ndundanctes—

ill prevent us from s. For

carrying instance,

out if

our

you

appointed

pair up with

service.

another

That's

believer

why it's

on a

essential

service

have redundancie

be done by one person, you have a system that is less likely to "break."

project that can

vision—Our efforts at service become more "fragile" (i.e., discourag-

Have a longterm

oned) when we are focused on seeing results within a short time

likely to be aband

ing, f thinking in terms of days, weeks or months, we should have an eye on

frame. Instead o

results that might take years, decades or even a lifetime. Ultimately, our efforts will have

an eternal impact on us and on those we serve.

becoming "antifragile" we can make our service to othersPRACTICAL

TAKEAWAY: By

Illore effective.

For your next reading. go to page 816,

815