Forecast Isn’t Fact: Building Strength from Uncertainty

Guest: Paul Gibbons

What if your organization’s greatest strength is also making it dangerously fragile?

 

In this specially selected archival follow-up, Maureen Metcalf revisits a provocative conversation with Paul Gibbons, author of The Science of Successful Organizational Change. Paul explains why resilience -- returning to where you were before a disruption -- may no longer be enough. Truly antifragile organizations use shocks, setbacks, and intelligent failures to emerge stronger.

 

Together, Maureen and Paul examine why excessive efficiency can eliminate the redundancy organizations need during a crisis; how small failures can protect the larger system; and why leaders must stop treating precise budgets, deadlines, and forecasts as certainty.

 

They also confront the human and ethical questions behind antifragility: When an organization becomes more resilient by transferring risk to its employees, who really benefits? And how can leaders use lifelong learning to make their own careers less fragile?

 

Recorded in 2016, this conversation has become even more relevant in today’s era of relentless disruption.

 

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- Making a Stronger Organization through Change with Paul Gibbons (the prelude to this episode)

- Why Smart Companies Make Bad Decisions with Matts Alvesson

- The 5% Problem: Rampant Change (and How to Survive It) with Greg Moran

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

 

RESOURCES:

Paul's book, The Science of Organizational Change, is available in paperback at https://amzn.to/4wMwlNY.

 

The book that coined “antifragility,” which Paul references, is Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, and is in paperback at https://amzn.to/4x3VmDM. That author’s first book is The Black Swan; it’s available at https://amzn.to/4iEAQG4.

 

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

 

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

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OUR PODCAST TEAM:

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Booking Producer: Jenna Reik

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

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