Building Anti-Fragile Organizations

Ever noticed how some companies crumble when hit with change, while others seem to get stronger? It's a question I've been grappling with throughout my career, from leading teams at Heineken and EssilorLuxottica to working with startups.

Kodak and Nokia
The truth is, most businesses build themselves to be stable. Sounds good, right? But stable isn't enough anymore. Look at Kodak. They invented digital photography but clung to film, scared to disrupt their cash cow. Nokia, the kings of mobile phones, met a similar fate when the iPhone arrived. They played it safe while Apple played to win. Blockbuster vs. Netflix? Similar thing, they stayed fixed on their brick-and-mortar model, missing the streaming revolution. Blockbuster could have even bought Netflix. What’s left? Just a shadow of their former glory and the reminder that in today's market, "If you do what you did, you get what you got," might not even cut it anymore.

A tree tends to bend in the wind. That is what anti-fragile is. The more anti-fragile, the stronger the wind you can resist.

What they needed: Anti-fragility

The example companies I mentioned earlier were built for reliability, which comes from lots of processes, plans, ways of working. And essentially, that's the problem right there. When market shifts hit, like with AI now or changing customer needs, or even a pandemic – stable systems don't bend; they break. We’ve seen more businesses wake up to that reality, realizing that being tough enough to weather storms isn't the answer. You need to be built in a way that actually gets better when things get rough. Think about muscles. They don't just resist stress – they grow stronger because of it. That’s where anti-fragility comes in.

A wake up call
I faced one of those moments back in 2014 at Denon & Marantz. They were doing things the same way they always had – traditional audio marketing, print ads, trade shows, very infrequent newsletters. Our competitors started shifting to digital or even being digital 1st, but they stuck to the old playbook. The Amazons were taking bigger shares of sales, Sonos was doing a lot of digital, the main source of music was shifting from CD to streaming. That issue became even more obvious when a 20-year-old intern pointed out that none of her friends were reading hi-fi magazines we advertised in, going to stores we sold our products in,... They were all on YouTube, buying stuff based on recommendations. We were missing an entire generation of audio enthusiasts. Instead of panicking, I took that wake-up call to start changing that old approach. We secretly launched some blogs, Insta channels, started collaborating with influencers, and created a bunch of digital-only campaigns. What looked like a crisis became a big opportunity for growth. The data gathered, engagement earned, also landed me opportunities to expand a team, implement tools and tech, and more.

You’ve also seen this
This principle became clear to everyone when COVID-19 hit, traditional retail channels shut down overnight. People had to work from home. E-commerce went nuts, remeber? I was working at GrandVision where we were building a Center of Excellence in regards to omnichannel marketing. It went slow up until then, cause “hey in stores is where we make most of our money”. That changed quick. Instead of panicking, it provided the opportunity to accelerate our digital transformation. We shifted resources, upskilled teams, and doubled down on online sales and appointment booking. What seemed like a catastrophe became our catalyst for growth.

The Essence of Anti-fragility

It's about building systems that turn volatility into fuel for growth. Not just surviving disruption, but using it as fuel for growth. It's what separated Kodak from Fujifilm, Nokia from Apple, Blockbuster from Netflix. Traditional business models focus on minimizing risk and maintaining stability. But in a fast-changing and continuously more complex world, this approach makes companies more vulnerable, not less. When market shifts happen, these businesses struggle to adapt because they've optimized for a world that no longer exists (sometimes overnight).

In 2007, Netflix started streaming while keeping their DVD rental business. The move looked risky - but that's exactly what made them anti-fragile. Under Satya Nadella, Microsoft shifted from a Windows-first company to a cloud-first organization. The old Microsoft would fight to protect Windows. The new Microsoft embraced change, made Office available on iOS, and turned potential threats into opportunities.

Anti-fragile Teams

Teams that embrace anti-fragility actively gain from it. Instead of fearing AI and automation for instance, these teams learn to leverage these tools, making their workflows smoother and their output stronger. Content writers as another example, adapted too. When ChatGPT arrived, some sat in a corner crying, some evolved. They developed superior editing skills, learned prompt engineering, and focused on strategy. That change, AI, was seen as a springboard for creativity rather than seeing it as a threat. That’s the basics of what makes a team anti fragile:

1. Something with massive impact hits you

2. You look at what is will change

3. You look at the options coming with it

4. You experiment, learn and scale with what helps you

So how you you start building Your Anti-Fragile Organization

So, how do you build anti-fragility into your organization? It starts with mindset and culture, then translates into habits and processes.

• Team Habits:

  • Start small, test often.

  • Share failures openly.

  • Celebrate quick recoveries.

  • Document learnings.

• Team Exercises:

  • Red Team Sessions: Put someone in charge of finding weak spots in your plans.

  • Scenario Planning: Map out what could go wrong.

• Daily Work:

  • Take one project and create three different approaches to tackle it.

  • Build feedback loops - Get input early and often.

• Daily Habits

  • Start your day by doing one thing that scares you.

  • Mix up your routines

• Quick Implementation Guide:

  1. Pick one process

  2. Find its breaking point

  3. Create small tests

  4. Learn from results

  5. Scale what works

The key? Make it part of your routine. At Heineken, we made this our (Fuck Up) Friday ritual. 15 minutes of where we fucked something up. All in order to share learnings, share the fact that no one is perfect, open the room for ideas, concerns, questions, innovation.

This concept of anti-fragility taught me that true leadership in modern time isn't about being unbreakable. It's about building systems and teams that grow stronger through challenges. Now, I encourage my teams to embrace uncertainty, experiment boldly, and view obstacles as opportunities for growth. If you do what you did, you get what you got - but when you dare to lead differently, you create space for transformation and innovation.

It's time to build your anti-fragile future.

Start small

pick one area in your work where you can introduce controlled chaos.

Test new approaches.

Learn from what breaks.

If you need more of this mentality in your organization, I’m available.