Measurement is an important part of all our lives, both for defining our objectives and for tracking our progress towards them.
Measuring antifragility might be more difficult than measuring many other things. But it still matters. We all need to know where our strengths and weaknesses lie. And we need to know whether the tools of Inner Leadership are making a difference.
So the book asks us to rate our ability at the seven skills or competencies that will make us antifragile: the seven skills or competencies that enable us to shift our inner state to become able to use change to become stronger and more valuable.
We start in the bottom left hand corner of the picture, in a state of ‘Churning’.
The first skill or competency of becoming antifragile is the ability to shift this inner state to become ‘Centred’ and ‘Grounded’: to connect with what matters most to us and who we are at our best. The tools of Chapter 1 show us how to achieve this, even in a crisis.
Chapter 2 then shifts our inner state to feeling ‘Confident’ or ‘Sure’. It does this by showing us how to make clear sense of the situation, quickly and reliably. This is the second skill of becoming antifragile.
In Chapter 3 we realise that every challenge contains an opportunity and we learn to find more opportunities in a situation. This shifts our inner state to become more ‘Optimistic’.
The fourth skill is the ability to choose our best way forward, even when the situation is unclear and the outcome difficult to predict. This ability makes us ‘Directed’. How to achieve this is covered in Chapter 4.
In Chapters 5 and 6 you review your purpose and values and create an inspiring description of the outcome you have decided to create. This enables you to inspire yourself and the people around you to long to make it happen. Your inner emotional state then shifts to ‘Determined’ and ‘Inspired’.
And in Chapter 7 you learn how to maintain and build this inspiration as you move forward. Having this skill in place makes you ‘Ready’ to begin.
Each of these steps, alone, is small and straightforward. Combined in the right order they become a transformational staircase that anyone can climb. And the more you strengthen your abilities at each of these seven competencies, the more antifragile you become — able to lead yourself and other people through change, in ways that make you stronger and more valuable.
If you would like to do this, start now. Ask yourself what a ‘ten’ would look like for you for each of the seven competencies (on a scale of zero to ten). Then ask yourself where you are today. Where is the biggest gap? Where would a small improvement make the biggest difference to your life? Where do you want to be in a year’s time? What actions are you taking to achieve that?
Adapted from Inner Leadership: a framework and tools for building inspiration in times of change.
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