There is pure luck, and then there is the luck we CREATE for ourselves. Here is a fun infographic with 12 Ways to Make Your Own Luck!
Good luck isn’t just chance—it can be learned and leveraged—and The Serendipity Mindset explains how you can use serendipity to make life better at work, at home—everywhere. Many of us believe that the great turning points and opportunities in our lives happen by chance, that they’re out of our control. Often we think that successful people—and successful companies and organizations—are simply luckier than the rest of us. Good fortune—serendipity—just seems to happen to them. Is that true? Or are some people better at creating the conditions for coincidences to arise and taking advantage of them when they do? How can we connect the dots of seemingly random events to improve our lives? In The Serendipity Mindset, Christian Busch explains that serendipity isn’t about luck in the sense of simple randomness. It’s about seeing links that others don’t, combining these observations in unexpected and strategic ways, and learning how to detect the moments when apparently random or unconnected ideas merge to form new opportunities. Busch explores serendipity from a rational and scientific perspective and argues that there are identifiable approaches we can use to foster the conditions to let serendipity grow. Drawing from biology, chemistry, management, and information systems, and using examples of people from all walks of life, Busch illustrates how serendipity works and explains how we can train our own serendipity muscle and use it to turn the unexpected into opportunity. Once we understand serendipity, Busch says, we become curators of it, and luck becomes something that no longer just happens to us—it becomes a force that we can grasp, shape, and hone. Full of exciting ideas and strategies, The Serendipity Mindset offers a clear blueprint for how we can cultivate serendipity to increase innovation, influence, and opportunity in every aspect of our lives. Product DetailsISBN-13: 9780593086025 Media Type: Hardcover Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group Publication Date: 06-09-2020 Pages: 384 Product Dimensions: 6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.30(d)About the Author Christian Busch, PhD, is an internationally known expert in the areas of innovation and entrepreneurship. He is the director of the Global Economy Program at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs, and also teaches at the London School of Economics. A cofounder of Leaders on Purpose and the Sandbox Network—and former co-director of the LSE’s Innovation Lab—he has worked with senior executives around the world. He divides his time between New York and London.Read an Excerpt Read an Excerpt Chapter 1 Serendipity More Than Blind Luck Humiliating to human pride as it may be, we must recognize that the advance and even the preservation of civilization are dependent upon a maximum of opportunity for accidents to happen. -Friedrich Hayek, winner of the 1974 Nobel Prize in Economics Serendipity: A Brief History When King Giaffer, ruler of the ancient country of Serendip (an Old Persian name for Sri Lanka) became concerned that his three sons were too sheltered, privileged, and unprepared for the challenges of ruling the kingdom, he decided to send them on a journey on which they would learn some important life lessons. In one tale, the princes come across a merchant who has lost a camel. From observations they have made during their journey they describe the camel so well that the merchant believes they must have stolen it. The merchant takes them to the emperor, who asks how they could possibly have given such a clear description of the camel if they had never seen it. They explain that they knew the camel was lame because they observed tracks showing the prints of three feet and a fourth being dragged, and that they knew it was carrying butter on one side and honey on the other because flies had been attracted to the butter on one side of the road and ants to the honey on the other side of the road, and so on. Suspicions that the princes might have stolen the camel-given their detailed description of it-are rebutted when another traveler enters to say he has found a camel. The princes did not yet know that a lame, honey-bearing camel was missing when they made their observations. But when they learned that one was missing, they connected this information to what they had observed earlier-they connected the dots. In 1754, the British writer and politician Horace Walpole wrote to a friend about an unexpected discovery, which he compared to the story of the three princes. In doing so, he coined the word serendipity, describing the princes as people who "were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of." Thus, the word entered the English language, and while it has been reduced by many to mean simply "good luck," it is clear that Walpole had spotted its subtler meaning. There are other definitions of serendipity, but most demarcate the phenomenon as chance interacting with human action, leading to a usually positive outcome-which is the definition I use here. This action-focused perspective allows us to understand how to develop a space that we can control in which serendipity can happen-a serendipity field. By definition, serendipity is not controllable, let alone predictable. However, there are tangible, achievable ways to develop the conditions in which serendipity can happen, and to ensure that when such potentially transformational coincidences occur, we can recognize them and grab them with both hands. Serendipity is about seeing what others don't, about noticing unexpected observations and turning them into opportunities. It demands a conscious effort to prompt and leverage those moments when apparently unconnected ideas or events come together in front of you to form a new pattern. Put more plainly, it is about connecting the dots. From Volcanoes to World Champions On a sunny Saturday in April 2010, an erupting Icelandic volcano with an unpronounceable name (Eyjafjallajškull) entered popular culture after its resulting ash cloud had grounded thousands of flights across most of Europe. That same morning, an unknown number popped up on my phone. On the line was a stranger, who started speaking self-confidently: "Hi Christian. We don't know each other yet, but a mutual friend gave me your number. I'd like to ask you for a favor." Sitting at brunch after a long night out, I was still a little bit sleepy, but nonetheless intrigued. "Ahm, tell me more," I replied. This is how Nathaniel Whittemore, an entrepreneur and blogger, entered my life. Nathaniel explained that his flight from London to southern California had just been canceled and that he was stuck in London along with many of the attendees of the Skoll World Forum, a major annual conference for social entrepreneurs and thought leaders held at Oxford University. Most of them did not know many people in London, and had their schedules clear. "So why not organize an event to bring them all together and make the best out of the situation?" he asked. By then, Nathaniel had already written an email along those lines to the TED team, whom he had briefly met a few years earlier. To my amazement, within thirty-six hours, Nathaniel organized the first ever-and probably last-"TEDxVolcano" conference, a spontaneous version of the popular TED conference. With absolutely no budget, over a weekend, and with few direct contacts in London, Nathaniel turned a challenging situation into an event with two hundred top attendees, hundreds more on the waiting list, speakers including eBay's first president Jeff Skoll, and a recorded livestream that was watched by more than ten thousand people. While this was amazing in its own right, two questions occurred to me: How did he do this? And what can we learn from it? Nathaniel, like all of us, had encountered something random and unexpected in his life-in this case, an unforeseen and unplanned-for period of time in London. But he had the sagacity-the perceptiveness, the creativity, and the energy-to turn it into something positive. Most of us may not have seen the potential trigger for serendipity in such a situation. Nathaniel realized not only that exceptional people were stuck in London, but also that their experiences could be great stories to tell in the context of TED. And where many may have been deterred by the lack of resources, he used his enthusiasm and negotiation skills to convince a local coworking office to donate space for the event, used the innovation community Sandbox to recruit volunteers, and enlisted top people like Larry Brilliant, the former executive director of Google.org (Google's charitable arm), to give extemporaneous talks. Nathaniel's ability to connect the dots produced a world-class event with no budget within a day and a half, in a city where he previously had a limited network. This precis is only half of the story, to which I shall return later in this book, but the important point to make here is that encounters such as these happen more often than we realize. For example, Dr. Nico Rose, a German organizational psychologist, was on a business trip in 2018 when he ran into former world heavyweight champion boxer Wladimir Klitschko in the gym of a Boston hotel. Though he was jetlagged and had gone to the gym to battle it, Nico nevertheless immediately recognized Klitschko, one of his idols. He hurried back to his hotel room to fetch his cell phone, planning to ask for a selfie if he could do so without disturbing Klitschko's training routine. The ideal moment arose when Klitschko's manager entered the gym and spoke to the boxer in German. Nico gathered that the pair did not know where breakfast was served in the hotel. He took the opportunity to explain to them in German where it was. The resulting chat led to a selfie, and off they went to do their separate workouts. When they had finished, Klitschko couldn't find the elevator-so Nico walked with him a
by Yes, yes, yes! It’s going to be a great day, a great week… I just believe it!
Can you really “Think and Grow Rich?” As a career-driven professional, chances are you’re looking for ways to have a leg up on growing in wealth and influence through your life’s work.
Instructive Louis Pasteur quotations from books that will inspire your inner self. Learn life lessons by reading famous Louis Pasteur quotes
💬 Browse the handpicked collection of the top CHANCE quotes and sayings. Quotes about chance, taking chances and not letting is slip away.
The best take a chance quotes to motivate and inspire you! Quotes about taking chances can empower you with courage and confidence.
Bath & Body Works Coupons; How to get Bath & Body Works Coupons
Having a stomach ache after workouts — or during them — can affect anyone. If you're wondering why your stomach hurts after working out, find out the answer and how to prevent it.
Feeling stuck with your cardio training and struggling to find the motivation to continue? Here are some reasons why it’s beneficial!
Everyone has to deal with a few bad coworkers. We've rounded up 10 key office jerks and have advice on how best to deal with them.
The A to Z of success in life will highlight some key words that you should make a part of your life to have more happiness.
What is resilience and why is it Important? Being able to pick ourselves up after an adverse advent, can help us deal with future challenges.
Welcome to Develop Good Habits! Get Started By Checking Out These Ultimate Guides... Watch These Videos... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7u6UwtmGyE 11 Growth Mindset Strategies to Overcome a Fixed Mindset https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt8SlP09aSM How to Get MAXIMUM Results with the 80/20 Rule https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elJcG83m-qg 21 SMART Goals Examples Throughout Your Life https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIJ-GQWSSC8 9 Steps to Build a Habit That Actually Sticks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzH_xKuRmzY
Setting goals is essential for success, but achieving them can be stressful! Can you reach your goals without getting stressed out? This post reveals how.
Washington was an adult when she learned that she had been conceived via artificial insemination and the man she considered her father was not her biological dad. Her new memoir is Thicker than Water.
