Speakers:

Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Former trader,
author of The Black Swan and Antifragile

Yaneer Bar-Yam, President and Professor,
New England Complex Systems Institute

Learn to flourish in a volatile world by turning risk into opportunity and thriving on disorder.

January 21st and 22nd, 2016
Cambridge, MA

Frame:

When strong winds blow, don't build walls, build windmills: turn adversity into fuel for improvement.

This course explains how organizations and markets respond to volatility. Participants will learn to distinguish fragile from antifragile, how to use volatility, variability, stress and disorder to advantage, and how to recognize patterns to make better decisions. This program is based on rigorous science but does not require a math background.

The program will include lessons from Taleb’s current research and his New York Times bestseller Antifragile, including:

• How to spot fragility
• What antifragility is
• Why it is better to be antifragile than smart
• How not to mistake a cat for a washing machine
• Heuristics and rules to simplify life and decision making

These will be paired with insights from Yaneer Bar-Yam’s current research and book Making Things Work, drawing upon case studies from financial markets, healthcare, systems engineering, the military, and other topics. Lessons include:

• What complexity is
• Ways to recognize and use important patterns in a complex world
• How to harness the power of self-organization to be naturally antifragile
• How to assess the metaview
• Global risks, cascading crises, and the "new normal"

Participants will be part of an open discussion and will leave with tools relevant to their organizations.

Audience:

This seminar is for anybody who wants to understand risk and opportunity in the real world, especially key decision makers and those who advise them: executives, senior management, public administrators, management consultants, organizational development professionals and business educators.

Registration:

Sign up now!

Accommodations:

A block of rooms at the Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel, on 606 Congress Street in Boston, will be available at a group rate for registrants. After signing up for the course, you can book your room here.