Antifragility: How systems and people can thrive through disruption

TL;DR

Antifragility is gaining momentum across disciplines, describing not just survival through adversity, but improvement because of it. Current research in business, psychology, and complex systems highlights how individuals and organizations can adopt practices that allow them to thrive amid disruption. Core capabilities like mindfulness, adaptability, collaboration, and digital readiness are key to operationalizing antifragility.

Key Takeaways

• Antifragility extends beyond resilience, emphasizing transformation and growth from stressors.

• It’s being applied across business, psychology, urban planning, and systems design.

• Key organizational drivers include mindfulness, collaborative networks, digital integration, and scenario planning.

• Emerging theories integrate antifragility with aging, urban intelligence, and posthumanist planning.

• There’s a growing push for clearer definitions and metrics to put antifragility into action.

Introduction

The idea that stress and uncertainty can lead to growth isn’t new, but the term antifragility—coined by Nassim Nicholas Taleb—has brought fresh attention to this dynamic. Unlike resilience, which aims for recovery, antifragility implies thriving amid volatility. As the concept spreads across disciplines, researchers are unpacking its potential for organizations, individuals, and systems.

What Is Antifragility?

Antifragility describes a system’s or individual’s capacity not just to endure stress, but to improve because of it. It’s about using disruption as fuel for development. While resilience resists change, antifragility welcomes it—and evolves.

Latest Research Directions

Antifragility in Business and Organizations

Antifragility is being embraced by firms looking to do more than just survive disruption. In supply chains and small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs), scholars emphasize the need to cultivate certain traits and processes:

• Mindfulness and learning to interpret and respond to rapid shifts.

• Collaborative networks that buffer shocks and enable adaptive solutions.

• Technological integration for agility, innovation, and responsiveness.

Research shows these capabilities help companies pivot in uncertainty and turn crises into catalysts for growth (Nikookar et al., 2024; Sagala & Őri, 2024; Doreen et al., 2025; Corvello et al., 2022).

Antifragility in Psychology

Psychological antifragility is being defined as more than mental toughness—it’s the ability to flourish under pressure. While rare in the general population, people who demonstrate high antifragility:

• Use adversity as an opportunity for reflection and growth.

• Show higher vitality and satisfaction at work.

• Engage in learning-oriented behaviors rather than defense mechanisms.

Measurement tools are still being refined, with new scales distinguishing antifragility from traditional resilience (Bajaba et al., 2024; Tsai, 2024; Markey-Towler, 2018).

Antifragility in Complex Systems and Planning

In engineering, ecology, and urban planning, antifragility is being applied to systems that:

• Adapt to volatility.

• Use variability to enhance design.

• Incorporate uncertainty into strategic modeling.

Debates continue on how to operationalize antifragility in dynamic environments, but the trend points toward designing for benefit under stress, not just resistance (Janković, 2024; Axenie et al., 2024; Blecic & Cecchini, 2019; De Bruijn et al., 2019; Munoz et al., 2022; Daalen, 2020).

Key Capabilities for Organizational Antifragility

Capability/Driver

Description

Citations

Mindfulness & Learning

Active learning, openness to change

Nikookar et al., 2024; Sagala & Őri, 2024; Doreen et al., 2025

Collaboration & Networks

Building strong partnerships and trust networks

Corvello et al., 2022

Adaptability & Creativity

Agile thinking and creative problem-solving

Doreen et al., 2025; Corvello et al., 2022

Digital Technologies

Using tech for speed, innovation, and resilience

Corvello et al., 2022

Scenario Planning & Risk Mgmt

Planning proactively for future shocks

De Bruijn et al., 2019

Up-and-Coming Theories

Posthumanist and Exploratory Planning

Urban planning scholars argue for approaches that go beyond technical resilience, incorporating:

• Urban intelligence

• Aesthetic sensibilities

• Ethical and environmental complexity

This aligns with broader movements advocating for adaptive and ethically conscious cities (Janković, 2024).

Antifragility and Aging

Health researchers are exploring how antifragility may relate to anti-inflammaging—the slowing of chronic inflammation associated with aging. Early findings suggest that adaptive stress responses could promote healthier aging (Olivieri et al., 2022).

Clarifying the Concept

While antifragility has intuitive appeal, it’s still being formalized. Scholars are working to:

• Differentiate it from resilience and robustness.

• Develop reliable measurement tools.

• Create operational frameworks that can be applied across sectors (Bajaba et al., 2024; Munoz et al., 2022; Daalen, 2020).

Conclusion

Antifragility is no longer just a provocative theory—it’s a growing field of practice. Whether in businesses striving for post-crisis growth, individuals harnessing adversity for personal development, or systems designed to evolve under stress, the common thread is adaptability with an upward trajectory. The future of antifragility lies in transforming volatility from a threat into a source of renewal.

References

• Axenie, C., López-Corona, O., Makridis, M., et al. (2024). Antifragility in complex dynamical systems. npj Complexity. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44260-024-00014-y

• Bajaba, A., Bajaba, S., & Simmering, M. (2024). When resilience is not enough: Theoretical development and validation of the antifragility at work scale. Personality and Individual Differences. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2024.112818

• Blecic, I., & Cecchini, A. (2019). Antifragile planning. Planning Theory, 19, 172–192. https://doi.org/10.1177/1473095219873365

• Corvello, V., Verteramo, S., et al. (2022). The role of digital technologies in fostering antifragility in SMEs. Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Humanized Computing. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12652-022-03816-x

• Daalen, E. (2020). On the meaning and operationalization of antifragility. Systems Research and Behavioral Science. https://doi.org/10.1002/sres.2760

• De Bruijn, H., Größler, A., & Videira, N. (2019). Antifragility as a design criterion for modelling dynamic systems. Systems Research and Behavioral Science. https://doi.org/10.1002/SRES.2574

• Doreen, I., Michael, G., & Thomas, O. (2025). Antifragility Capabilities for Service Firms: A Bibliometric Analysis. Innovations and Insights in Operations Research. https://doi.org/10.56279/orseaj.c2024.1

• Janković, S. (2024). Navigating Uncertainties in the Built Environment: Posthumanist Antifragility Planning. Buildings. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14040857

• Markey-Towler, B. (2018). Antifragility, the Black Swan and psychology. Evolutionary and Institutional Economics Review, 15, 367–384. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40844-018-0097-6

• Munoz, A., Billsberry, J., & Ambrosini, V. (2022). Resilience, robustness, and antifragility: Organizational responses to adversity. International Journal of Management Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12289

• Nikookar, E., Stevenson, M., & Varsei, M. (2024). Building an antifragile supply chain: A capability blueprint. Journal of Supply Chain Management. https://doi.org/10.1111/jscm.12313

• Olivieri, F., Prattichizzo, F., et al. (2022). Antifragility and antiinflammaging: Implications for healthy longevity. Ageing Research Reviews, 84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arr.2022.101836

• Sagala, G., & Őri, D. (2024). Antifragility, resilience and collaborative networks of SMEs. European Journal of Innovation Management. https://doi.org/10.1108/ejim-09-2023-0797

• Tsai, J. (2024). A measure of psychological antifragility: development and replication. The Journal of Positive Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2024.2394466