Science writing in the real world

Forest Ecosystems

Table 1 How to survive a turbulent world

Dimension	Syndrome
	*Antifragile*	*Fragile*
Complexity	Parsimonious	Comprehensive, holistic
Data dependence	Key indicators	Data intensive, measure everything
Expertise	Operable by generalist	Need trained specialists
Insight	Relies on first principles	Rests on history & precedent
Interdependency	Parts can function independently	Parts function only interdependently
Paradigmatic	Uses ‘pure’ data	Rich in special models & theories
Redundancy	Staff inter-changeability	Each staff with specialized function
Structure	Fragmented	Monolithic

On a range of structural and functional dimensions organizations and systems can be prone to failure (i.e. fragile), or be designed to be robust (i.e. antifragile).