|
It’s not a story of mine. No. The great Nassim Nicholas Taleb, in his book Antifragile compared two people: a high-level executive with a good salary, dressed in a suit and tie, and an immigrant taxi driver, self-employed, with a variable income and dressed as best he can. Taleb remarked that, while the executive may seem to have a calmer, more secure life with a better salary, better suits, and nicer restaurants, deep down, he lived in immense internal fear. He sh*t in his pants. This fear comes from his status. Everything he now has and doesn’t want to lose. Comfort zone or the pay check drug. The executive trembles whenever company cutbacks are announced, loses sleep thinking he might be fired, and feels like his world is crumbling if his boss calls him into the office for no apparent reason. Why? Because the well-paid executive fears losing his lifestyle, being unable to pay the three mortgages he has, the car, and his kids’ school fees. And he fears this because, unlike the self-employed immigrant taxi driver, he has two major problems:
Therefore, the taxi driver is more antifragile, which essentially means being better prepared for unexpected events, disruptions, and change. The taxi driver is used to earning a lot some days and nothing on others, having good months and less favorable months, and above all, dealing with uncertainty and change. Security and certainty vs. uncertainty and change. But you could work this around in your favour. You could simply accept that there is no greater security or certainty than knowing that life is uncertainty and change. This is why personal growth, remain flexible and alert, a side business or investments, are so important to keep your pants clean. If you look for help in that regard, you can click below and start working.
​
PD 1: If you liked this email, don't keep it in secret and forward it to a friend. They will thank you enormously one day. PD 2: If somebody has sent you this email and you want to receive emails like this yourself, visit vicentevalencia.com PD 3: If you want unsubscribe, click the link below. |
I talk about Personal Growth, Management, Infrastructure and More | 👇JOIN +2k readers 👇
World-class infrastructure. This is what I hear 90% of the time in any room on the client side. Let’s be honest. PPPs are often seen as the silver bullet to deliver big, bigger, massive stuff. The longest. The highest. The most advanced. The more expensive. Then things get into trouble and whose fault is it? The private sector. “Super expensive.” “Incredibly expensive.” “The private sector is making billions out of the poor, ingenious, and naïve taxpayer.” Give me a break. When your client...
You’re the preferred bidder. You’ve survived the RFQ bloodbath. You’ve outlasted two global consortia. You’ve negotiated 1,200 comments on the Project Agreement. You’re tired. But you’re smiling. Because you’re “there”. And your bonus, and your holidays to Fiji, “almost there”. Or so you think. In 2014, the East West Link PPP in Melbourne had a preferred bidder. Contracts were executed. Advisors were celebrating. Many, already paid. Then elections happened. Ahhh… the famous political risk of...
Yesterday I was talking about clarity.Or better said, about simplicity.If you’re not capable of putting it clearly, you don’t have the "pajorera" (faintest damn) idea what you’re talking about. Simplifying is a superpower. How many times have I seen the best technicians we could find for a task make a presentation to a Board of Directors.Charts.Twisted words beyond belief.More jargon… as if it were a competition to see who can pee the furthest.In the end…The sound of crickets. Trying to...