Subject in the Almanac Index
Resilience
Risk, recovery, fragility, buffers, and continuing through disruption.
How #SCRUM tweet began
Historical anchor: April 2012. Written as a present-day reconstruction on August 29, 2026. SCRUM tweet began years before it became a published book.
Staying centered
Equanimity is staying centered when everything else is not. This sounds simple until the surrounding volatility is personal.
What repetition makes easier
I have noticed that repetition does more than improve a skill. It also makes a response easier to reach.
Test one boundary
Growth often begins with a small test beyond what has become familiar.
Repair before you cut
A process fails repeatedly, and the most decisive response appears to be removing a role, habit, or relationship.
Do not decide only from the storm
Pressure can reveal that something must end. It can also narrow what we can see.
Build room to decline
A new opportunity can feel compulsory when too many existing commitments depend on saying yes.
Persistence changes the odds
Some work is won through persistence rather than intensity. Intensity is easy to recognize.
The Inaction Paradox: Why Safety is a Ghost
Inaction has consequences, but it is not always equivalent to failure.
The Failure of Safety: Architecting Beyond the Fear
Fear of failure can keep a person inside a familiar but harmful situation. It can also prevent a reckless move.
The Regret-Proof Pivot: Conviction over Analysis
Analysis can become a way to postpone commitment. More information sometimes clarifies a decision.
The Systemic Reset: Beyond the Fear of the "Miss"
A missed deadline, lost contract, failed launch, or public mistake can produce regret and repeated thought.
The Polaris Protocol: Why You Need a Single Point of Failure
A long list can make a major commitment look no different from a minor errand. That does not mean a life needs one goal or that balance guarantees mediocrity.
The Safety Paradox: Why Stability is a Ticking Time Bomb.
There is a concept in Nassim Taleb’s work called The Turkey Problem . Consider a turkey being raised on a farm. - Day 1: The farmer feeds it.
The Fragility of the Easy: Security as an Architectural Illusion
Predictable work is not inherently fragile, and difficult work is not inherently secure.
The Vacuum Law: Why Silence is Always Interpreted as Failure.
Silence leaves room for interpretation. Under pressure, clients and colleagues may fill that gap with concern.
Buffers should protect the work, not deceive the team
Plans need room for what the estimate does not know. I have often separated an internal target from an external commitment.
The Maintenance of Leverage: The Question Mark Protocol
What appears stable often depends on maintenance.
The Asymmetric Bet: Why You Should Fail More Often
Some opportunities have limited downside and meaningful potential upside. That does not make the cost of “no” zero.
The Pressure Valve: Pain as a Systemic Catalyst
Pain can demand attention. It may reveal injury, loss, overload, conflict, or a structure that no longer works.
The Invincible Summer: Engineering the Antifragile Core
The image of an invincible summer once gave me language for an inner source of continuity during difficult conditions. "Invincible" now feels too absolute.
The Pre-Mortem Protocol: Engineering the Failure Out
The pre-mortem protocol Optimism helps a project begin. It can also prevent a team from naming the weaknesses in its plan.
The Alchemy of Friction: Decoupling Pain from Suffering
In the legacy world, "Challenge" is viewed as a systemic failure: something to be avoided, mitigated, or complained about.
The Stoic Pivot: Action Beyond Fear and Hope
When effort does not produce the result I expected, the first difficulty is often the event itself. The second is my argument with the event.
The Fragility of the Unearned: Choosing the Steep Path
Support can create opportunity without automatically creating the capacity to use it well.