Nobody has to tell you that when things go bad they go bad quickly and seemingly in bunches.
Complicated structures like buildings or bridges are slow and laborious to build but with a
design flaw or enough explosive energy take only seconds to collapse. This fate can befall a
company the stock market or your house or town after a natural disaster and the metaphor
extends to economies governments and even whole societies. As we proceed blindly and
incrementally in one direction or another collapse often takes us by surprise. We step over
what you will come to know as a Seneca cliff which is named after the ancient Roman
philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca who was the first to observe the ubiquitous truth that
growth is slow but ruin is rapid. Modern science like ancient philosophy tell us that
collapse is not a bug it is a feature of the universe. Understanding this reality will help
you to see and navigate the Seneca cliffs of life or what Malcolm Gladwell called tipping
points. Efforts to stave off collapse often mean that the cliff will be even steeper when you
step over it. But the good news is that what looks to you like a collapse may be nothing more
than the passage to a new condition that is better than the old. This book gives deeper meaning
to familiar adages such as it's a house of cards let nature take its course reach a tipping
point or the popular Silicon Valley expression fail fast fail often. As the old Roman
philosopher noted nothing that exists today is not the result of a past collapse and this is
the basis of what we call The Seneca Strategy. This engaging and insightful book will help you
to use the Seneca Strategy to face failure and collapse at all scales to understand why change
may be inevitable and to navigate the swirl of events that frequently threaten your balance
and happiness. You will learn: How ancient philosophy and modern science agree that failure and
collapse are normal features of the universe Principles that help us manage rather than be
managed by the biggest challenges of our lives and times Why technological progress may not
prevent economic or societal collapse Why the best strategy to oppose failure is not to resist
at all costs How you can rebound after collapse to do better than before and to avoid the
same mistakes.
