“I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.”
Thomas Jefferson
“Things worthwhile generally don’t just happen. Luck is a fact, but should not be a factor. Good luck is what is left over after intelligence and effort have combined at their best. Negligence or indifference are usually reviewed from an unlucky seat. The law of cause and effect and causality both work the same with inexorable exactitudes. Luck is the residue of design.”
Branch Rickey
“Though men pride themselves on their great actions, often they are are not the result of any great design, but of chance.”
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
“Invention has its own algorithm: genius, obsession, serendipity and epiphany in some unknowable combination.”
Malcolm Gladwell, The New Yorker, May, 2008
“Studies suggest that around 50% of major scientific breakthroughs emerge as the result of accidents or coincidences.”
Christian Busch, The Serendipity Mindset, The Art and Science of Creating Good Luck
I’ve thought, for a very long time, that a key ingredient to success in life can depend on the amount of “luck” one has had. Call it good fortune, serendipity or just being in the proverbial right place at the right time; but, in a successfully-lived life, I feel that there need to be decent portions of it in the mix. So, while it’d be foolish to waste your time just waiting for some good fortune to come along, it certainly seems like a fine idea to be watchful for any opportunities disguised as ‘luck” that might pop up in your life. Perhaps you cannot simply create an opportunity; however, if one comes along, it may be a sign that your luck (and your life) is about to change. Being open to the possibilities and taking full advantage of them could have a profound effect on your future.
So, all things being equal, it’s probably best to begin with some kind of plan about how you’d wish to lead your life. You know the drill: work hard, have a focus, be responsible, make sound decisions, perhaps even develop a personal philosophy. Essentially, do what’s expected of a mature adult. And, the rest will take care of itself. Perhaps.
But, sometimes, in the middle of that well-imagined life, a seemingly random happening makes a potentially impactful landing. And, it may have such a strong effect that you absolutely can’t ignore it. Or perhaps, it’s the softest of splashdowns which is so faint and nuanced that you might miss it entirely, if sufficiently distracted. However, if you are alert and ready, one of these chance occurrences may turn out to be the opportunity of a lifetime.
It’s what British economist and researcher Christian Busch refers to as “making the most of the unexpected.” He goes on to say that “the first step is simply to build an awareness of the unexpected. The idea is to see meaning in the unexpected.” Finally, Busch advises us to “connect the dots. That’s when apparently unconnected events come together in front of you to form a new pattern.” This will allow you, he says, to “see opportunities others don’t”.
Busch described the serendipity that often emerges — this openness to opportunity and willingness to engage— as “smart, active luck.” At the other extreme, there is “blind luck,” or “pure luck,” or “dumb luck”—where there is no skill or preparation involved in the outcome. Think of blind luck this way:
• Suppose two people meet by chance in a grocery store line and end up becoming good friends. Probably, the result of blind luck.
• What are the odds of a person winning either the Mega Millions lottery or Powerball? It’s roughly one in 300 million. So, winning either of these would definitely take a healthy stroke of blind luck. And, don’t even think about the probability of one person winning both of them. That would be one in 88 quadrillion! I guess that would take a combination of blind luck, pure luck and dumb luck to the nth degree.
• A third example of blind luck: consider the fact that while 26 asteroids have plummeted to the earth over the last 20 years, none have destroyed a major city yet. The impact of one of these asteroids could potentially cause a multi-kiloton explosion on par with an atomic bomb. Research experts from NASA have concluded that the only thing preventing a catastrophe from an asteroid in a good-sized city thus far is no more than blind luck.
If we consider the history of scientific discoveries, it becomes apparent that luck is often a key factor leading to success. The French biologist Louis Pasteur accidentally discovered his first vaccine in 1879. In researching a disease (chicken cholera), he exposed chickens— by mistake – to a reduced form of the culture that he was growing. He then found out that the chickens became resistant to the actual virus. Pasteur went on to develop vaccines for anthrax, cholera, TB, small pox and rabies. And, of course, he was also famously known for inventing the pasteurization process used to stop bacterial contamination in milk and wine. Pasteur had said this about scientific discoveries: “Did you ever observe to whom accidents happen? Chance favors only the prepared mind.”
Neuroscientist Kevin Dunbar asserts that “the prepared mind is one trained for observational rigor.” And, that “happy accidents” play a major role in the scientific method. One of the most famous of “accidental” scientific discoveries was made by the Scottish researcher Sir Alexander Fleming. He had been experimenting with the influenza virus in his lab at St. Mary’s Hospital in London in 1928. While considered a brilliant man, he was often described as a somewhat careless lab technician. After returning from a two-week vacation, he discovered that a mold had accidentally grown on a staphylococcus plate and contaminated it. Upon further evaluation, he found that the effect of the culture was to prevent the growth of staphylococci. This led to the development of penicillin, the most widely used antibiotic in the world. Later, Fleming was reported to have said:
“One sometimes finds what one is not looking for. When I woke up just after dawn on September 28, 1928, I certainly didn’t plan to revolutionize all medicine by discovering the world’s first antibiotic, or bacteria killer. But I guess that was exactly what I did.”
Here is just a sampling of some statements made over the years regarding the important role that chance plays in scientific discoveries:
“A scientist must be sagacious (attentive and clever) to benefit from an accident.”
A.A. Baumeister, ” Serendipity and the Cerebral Location of Pleasure,” Neoplasma, pg. 259
Richard Gaughan, “Accidental Genius: The World’s Greatest By-Chance Discoveries,” MetroBook
“Accidental discoveries result from the convergence of preparation, opportunity and desire.”
“Years of training, dedication and even failure are necessary to prepare the mind.“
Alexander Fry (English Entomologist)
“Her breakthrough comes as breakthroughs often do: by long and prepared accident.”
Richard Powers, The Overstory, pg. 125
“You’ve got to be good enough to get close enough to be lucky.”
Frank Fasano (many years ago)
In addition to the part that “smart active luck” plays in the scientific and technical fields, I believe it is also a key factor in other disciplines such as business. I’ll give you an example. As luck would have it, my business partner Dom and I experienced one of our own “happy accidents” about 15 years ago. And, it had a major impact on our careers. Having both spent our professional lives in the advertising field, and as owners of a small, medical advertising agency, we had just acquired a new orthopedic client early in 2005. We worked zealously on the account, developed a strong working relationship with their employees and were producing solid promotional pieces for them over a period of six months.
When we arrived one day to make a presentation for a current project, our chief contact, John, the VP of Marketing—who was the person responsible for bringing us in as the agency of record six months prior— said that he had just hired a marketing director. “You’ll love him, guys.” John said. “He comes from J&J. A real pro.” So, that’s kind of when your heart is in your throat. If history is any guide, whenever a new marketing person comes into the job, he/she generally brings in their own agency and shows the current group the door.
Well, we braced ourselves, got introduced and were asked by the new guy, Chris, to present the brochure concepts that we had brought in with us. He listened carefully, nodding his head in approval at certain points as Dom made the presentation. When my partner was done, Chris leaned back in his chair and said: “Dom and Frank, you guys get this.”
That moment in time ended up being one of the most impactful of our careers. The immediate recognition by Chris that we were up to the task positively affected our success, viability and profitability as an organization for at least a decade. And though both Dom and I felt the potential significance of what Chris was saying to us, if we intended to take advantage of this “lucky break”, then we had to be ready for it, respond to it and act on it. We were.
Before we left that day, Chris briefly mentioned a project he wanted to pursue in the future. It was to be based on something similar that he’d done with his former company. No details were discussed. However, the next day Chris called and asked us to start work on that very project. I won’t get into the weeds on the specifics, but let’s just say that it involved a lot of pieces and we were asked to pretty much figure it out for ourselves.
We had obviously made a strong, initial impression on Chris, so he sensed that we could be trusted to handle what he was throwing at us. We ended up having to make a lot of decisions on our own along the way; and, all during the course of this process, he never complained about anything we did. When the task was finally completed, Chris let us know that compared to what a big name medical agency had done for him at his former company on the original version of this project, our agency accomplished the job more quickly, with better quality and at a lower cost. Boom!
That one project was where we cemented our relationship with Chris. And, it was a relationship that spanned over a decade. When he moved to a different division, he introduced us to his new colleagues—which meant new connections for us and more business. When he got a job with a new company (which just happened to be the largest medical device company in the world), he took us with him. And, that included making a personal case for us versus existing company policy. And, when he was promoted and put in charge of a full division, he strongly recommended that his team members work with our agency. They did. And, they too became satisfied clients.
{Just a side note here: while it’s gratifying to be recommended to a potential new client by a current client, that’s just the beginning. You can never assume that anything is guaranteed. From the beginning of any new relationship, you have to treat your new customer just as you treat all the rest of your customers, large or small: and, that is to regard each one of them as if they are your only customer. As Frank Borman (the former Apollo 8 astronaut and president of Eastern Airlines) used to say: “We’ve got to earn our wings every day.” And, to demonstrate how seriously we took the referral from Chris for a new piece of business, we assured him that not only would we never let the new customer down, but we would never let him down.}
So, was that meeting with Chris in early 2005 just a stroke of luck? Or, was it simply a fortunate break we were presented with for which we were ready? Did we see an opportunity that others might not have seen? Here are a couple of anonymous quotes that I think sum up how to be perfectly positioned to “make your own luck”:
“Luck is when skill meets opportunity.”
“The hard work puts you where the good luck can find you.”
“Opportunity: So fragile it can disappear when touched by inexperience.”
So, how to take advantage of “smart, active luck?” It would seem that in any endeavor in which a person hopes to be successful — and opportunistic — they must already possess a strong foundation of knowledge and experience. And, be immersed in their field or area of expertise. Also, be conversant with its language and basic “rules.” For, without the requisite training and background to draw on, one may not be able to recognize a valid opportunity, and to pounce on it.
Let’s face it, ultimately even being in a position to get a lucky break still requires a measure of good fortune. It’s fine to say that you need to take advantage of opportunities that pop up in your life. But, we also hope that those opportunities will indeed show up from time to time. And, perhaps even call out to us, so that we can act on them. To the extent that we can make luck happen for us at all, I’ve always felt that if you lived a decent life and worked hard at the important things, then maybe that was a major part of the formula for creating opportunity. However, we all know of cases where bad people are rolling in good fortune and other cases where some really good people can’t catch a frigging break. While acknowledging that, I still come down on the side of how we think, live and act can positively affect the occurrence of good fortune in our lives. Perhaps, much of luck in life, good and bad, comes down to karma. And, maybe it’s mostly true that what goes around comes around. With all of this in mind, let me end with a relevant and insightful observation about luck from James Michener:
“You have to be eligible for luck to strike, and I think that’s a matter of education and preparation, and character and all the other solid attributes that sometimes people laugh at.”
Resonance 