When was the last time you felt that everything was running smoothly—that, over several months, life unfolded just as you expected? If you’re hesitating, you’re in good company. Life is messy; normality is the exception, not the rule. Anyone hoping that things will soon proceed in calm, orderly fashion is usually disappointed.
What holds for individuals also holds for a country as a whole—even over short stretches of time. Since the turn of the millennium, Switzerland has weathered any number of crises: the aftershocks of 9/11, the global financial crisis, the euro crisis, the Covid pandemic, the collapse of Credit Suisse, and, most recently, a global trade war.
When Tension Helps
Our institutions have come through these upheavals surprisingly well. Switzerland seems to absorb shocks better than many other countries. The old line that crises also bring opportunities has seldom been an empty phrase here. Still, the recent pile-up of crises has left its mark. Many people feel increasingly overwhelmed, and society as a whole seems to be under a certain strain.
That kind of strain can, over time, lead to cracks. But it can also release energy for something new and better. That, however, only happens if Switzerland—and its citizens—cultivate one quality that matters more than ever today: antifragility.
“Antifragile” may be an unfamiliar term. The idea becomes clear if we look at its opposite. “Fragile” we all know: you mark a parcel “fragile” when shipping glasses or bottles. But what’s the opposite of fragile? Many would say something robust, like a boulder that withstands forces without breaking. A boulder, though, isn’t made stronger by a storm—it’s neither better nor worse afterward. So the opposite of fragile isn’t robust; it’s antifragile—just as the opposite of regression isn’t standing still, but progress.
Antifragile people learn from and benefit by uncertainty and stress rather than shattering under it. Think of a workout: your muscles are put under strain by weights; micro-tears form, and in recovery they rebuild stronger than before.
What Makes People Antifragile
The same principle holds beyond the gym. People grow through manageable challenges. Let small trials happen. Children chauffeured everywhere by their parents may struggle to develop a feel for risk and self-efficacy compared with those who get around by bike or scooter. Adults, too, become fragile if they avoid every stressor and uncertainty. Relationships in which even small conflicts are never addressed are more likely to break under the first big shock. The key is allowing stress in a dose that strengthens rather than overwhelms.
People also become more antifragile when they aren’t dependent on a single path. Someone who is broadly positioned — with several roles, interests, or projects — usually handles setbacks better because they haven’t staked everything on one card. Options create calm and open doors that wouldn’t otherwise exist. Physicist Albert Einstein, for example, worked as a technical expert at the Swiss patent office in Bern while developing the theory of relativity on the side — a side path that became his main one.
Antifragility doesn’t end with individuals. Countries, too, can grow stronger by exposing themselves to friction. That’s where Switzerland gets interesting. The country was never consciously designed as an antifragile system. But, as we argue in our book Antifragile Switzerland — 17 Strategies for a World of Disorder, over time it developed institutions that illustrate this idea almost textbook-style. Once you see that, you see Switzerland differently and you understand a large part of its success.
The Most Antifragile Country in the World
Many Swiss institutions are built to provoke disruptions and turn them into productive friction. Direct democracy, for example, repeatedly jolts governments and parliaments out of lethargy and complacency. It works like a permanent feedback loop that keeps elected officials from drifting too far from public preferences. Alienation between state and citizen is therefore far less of a subject here than in our larger neighboring countries.
This also reflects a local consensus culture: actors wrestle with one another for solutions rather than talking past each other. It functions like an institutionalized obligation to engage until a workable compromise emerges. All of this makes Switzerland a system that continually processes feedback and can harness disturbances before they become crises.
Constructive feedback is only possible in a system that creates options rather than relying on grand designs. Switzerland isn’t successful because it knows where the world is heading, but because it has built structures that keep multiple avenues open — and allow for failure. You can see this in politics: cantons and municipalities try new things, fail locally, and get copied when something works. Success travels; failure stays contained.
It’s similar in the economy. The apprenticeship system enables many entries and switches; the liberal labor market combines flexibility with security. We’re generally expected to bear normal risks ourselves—yet in an emergency, targeted help is available. The result is a system that doesn’t follow a rigid script and avoids one-track approaches.
That’s a central reason why Switzerland often weathers global storms well. When the world changes, the country as a whole doesn’t need to draft a new master plan. It can rely on municipalities and cantons, businesses, and—crucially—its citizens to adapt to new realities. That flexibility has proved to be a major advantage.
Are the Best Days Behind Us?
With direct democracy, federalism, a culture of consensus, and a liberal labor market, Switzerland has developed institutions that, according to bestselling author Nassim Taleb, once made it the most antifragile country in the world. Lately, though, Switzerland seems to be neglecting its own strengths. A decade ago, Taleb—who popularized the concept of antifragility—warned: “Switzerland is one of the most successful countries. But I fear the best times are over.”
Cracks are indeed appearing in some of the building blocks that formed Switzerland’s foundation for decades. Federalism is being undercut by the cantons themselves—a supplicant mentality toward the federal government is spreading. And out of a strong desire for safety, regulations are multiplying that increasingly limit the room for maneuver of people and companies. Too often now, the expectation is that the state will fix things, insure everything, and rescue everyone.
At bottom, all this means less antifragility: fewer local disturbances, fewer experiments, fewer choices. The risk is stagnation — and, ultimately, the loss of precisely those elements that turn crises into opportunities. Antifragility isn’t a state you achieve once and keep forever. It’s a capability that has to be renewed — by a country and by each of us.
This essay appeared in “NZZ am Sonntag” on November 23, 2025. The book “Antifragile Switzerland — 17 Strategies for a World of Disorder” will be available in bookstores starting November 28.
