Dec 21, 2010
A colleague recently introduced me to The Black Swan. Not the psychological thriller staring Natalie Portman as a ballerina seeking perfection, but author and philosopher Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s book. Among other interesting concepts, the book outlines two views of the world using the fictitious countries of Mediocristan and Extremistan. To paraphrase, in well-behaved Mediocristan the law of averages applies and the normal distribution curve is king. In Extremistan unusual and extreme events that play a significant role in the success and failure of businesses can – and do – happen.
Read full post >