Smart Luck

I have a thing for expressions that are almost intranslatable. That only exist in one language. Like bagnasciuga. L’appel du vide. Gluggaveður. Saudade. (Go ahead and google those, I’ll wait 🙂 Or my all-time favorite word:

Serendipity

The Cambridge dictionary defines it as “the fact of finding interesting or valuable things by chance”.

To me it’s a life philosophy. It’s my safety net against boredom. My antidote to being boxed in. And although chance is a defining element in it, to me serendipity is the opposite of “blind” luck. Blind luck is something that happens to you without your influence.

Serendipity is what I define as smart luck. And I’m not the only one. Christian Busch, author of Serendipity Mindset (see box below), thinks of serendipity as “unexpected good luck resulting from unplanned moments, in which proactive decisions yield positive outcomes.” (Source)

Did you know there are actually three different types of serendipity?

1 – Archimedes Serendipity: during your research, a solution your one of your problems shows up in an unexpected manner. The name was inspired by Archimedes who – tasked with verifying whether a certain crown was truly made of gold – had an epiphany when he was sitting in a public bath and noticed the water level was rising as new guests dropped in. Silver is less dense than gold – problem solved.

Did you ever experience Archimedes Serendipity? To me this happens sometimes when I am listening to random podcasts on my runs. Picking up on some word or thought, suddenly my mind starts drifting off and I end up having epiphanies about a personal problem or a project at work, sparked by a podcast conversation on a very different topic. Like listening to parenting podcasts and suddenly realizing how the exact same pattern applies to companies 🙂
 

2 – Post-it Note Serendipity: accidentally solving a problem that wasn’t even on your radar. Dr. Spencer Silver, a researcher for 3M, was supposed to create a very strong adhesive – and failed. Instead, he created a substance that was not at all sticky. Curious as he is, Silver was intrigued to learn more about the potential of this feeble adhesive. It eventually evolved into the ideal component for the Post-It Note.

In my twenties, I did a post-graduate degree at UC Berkeley. During that time I happened to madly fall in love with a Spaniard who was about to launch a start-up. I spontaneously followed him to Spain, co-founded the company with him and thus ended up in product management, eventually founding Product Academy. I definitely found something I was not looking for. Otherwise, I am sure I would have taken that job in Global Talent Management at Siemens that had been offered to me back in the days in San Francisco…
 

3 – Thunderstorm serendipity: a solution just comes to you. You were simply going about your day – not researching any specific topic or trying to solve a dedicated challenge – when you a new idea or an intriguing new possibility pop up.

This is the way I usually experience my poetry. Suddenly, there is this theme, this line, this metaphor that sets my creative process in motion. I have no clue where it came from and I cannot force or intentionally replicate this process.

In some cases, serendipity shows up as a mix of all three of them. In any case, it involves the act of joining disparate pieces of information.
 

Now, here comes the sixty-four-thousand dollar question: Can we get better at being lucky? Can we design for serendipity to happen?

According to Christian Busch and other researchers in this field: yes, we can. Here are some ways that apparently increase your chances for seredipitous discovery:

• expose yourself to a broad variety of topics (remeber my last newsletter about curiosity?) and start seeing patterns and connections between different areas of life, p.ex. how does nature solve certain problems?
• take social risks – meaning: work up the courage to meet new people and practice listening with the intent to learn, not to reply.
• be present: look around you and listen in on conversations on the train or at the playground instead of being glued to your cellphone. By the way: this is how many writers get inspiration for their work. They always carry around a little note book and write down anything interesting they hear – trusting it might be useful at some point. I call it my compost heap of creativity 🙂
• consider yourself lucky: In a British study, researchers were able to prove that individuals who considered themselves lucky also had a higher tendency to notice opportunities that opened up – in this case finding a 5-dollar bill in front of a coffee shop that led to taking a seat next to a successful business man)
• flip it: whenever you are facing a difficult situation, ask youself: what good can come from this? It’s a mindset that can be trained like a muscle.
• cultivate grit or tenancy: Serendipity might take it’s sweet time. Because let’s face it: the smart part of smart luck requires you to not just see the dots, but connect them in order to create value. And sometimes we just need a little more rest or life experience in order to be able to do just that.

Do you consider yourself a lucky person? Did you encounter any serendipitous moments that impacted your life? I’d love to hear about them.

Lots of love

Tanja

This text was first published in my though-letter Tanja’s Butterflies (February Edition 2024 – Part 2). If you are interested in receiving the next editions in your inbox including additional resources such as inspiring quotes, books and more, you can subscribe here.