Are You a Collared Dog or a Free Wolf?
There is no “wealth without exposure,” or “love without sacrifice.”
My journey through the teachings of Nassam Nicholas Taleb is almost at end - for now. There is much even for an old dog to chew on in his works. I’ve been immersed in all his work but The Black Swan (2007) so far, in order to understand his experience and the salient points for my own work experiences and that of my clients.
The basis of this book, Skin in The Game - Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life (2018), his most recent, is: without some risk, people are not in the best position to understand costs, benefits, and the entire life stream of an enterprise (or family). Taleb may speak business but his points apply well in family and intimate relationships.
If we are not risking, and he takes quite a few jabs at academics and consultants for this, we have no control over the outcome, nor should we, and no real basis for reality. That relative who gives you advice without a clue about the context and values - that guy! And why should those who do not risk share in the spoils? To the risk takers go the rewards. Rarely, does a paycheck make you happy, rich, or powerful.
There are those who create and those whose talents only maintain what others have created. Are you the collared dog or the free wolf? The free wolf may starve from time to time, but it does feast and travel beyond anyone else’s rules. Life is determinedly unbalanced and attempts to make it certain, something Taleb derides in his book Antifragile (2012), only constrict the freedom and freshness that being on top of our game demand from handling such challenges.
A recent trip to a government office for endless paperwork (yes, still paperwork) illustrates Taleb’s point that those embedded in the bureaucracy are separated from the consequences and output of their actions to their joy and loss.
I’ve enjoyed all of Taleb’s excellent work. It’s inspiring, gleefully insulting, and true.
He’d hate what I’m doing at the moment and I like him for that.