The Art and Science of Creating Good Luck

Today's blog post is based on a podcast from The Art of Manliness:

When you think about serendipity, you likely think of strokes of good luck that happen entirely by chance.

But my guest today says that we can play a role in harnessing more lightning strikes of fortune, and create the conditions to both experience a greater number of meaningful accidents, and make accidents more meaningful. His name is Christian Busch and he’s a professor of economics and entrepreneurship and the author of The Serendipity Mindset: The Art and Science of Creating Good Luck. We begin our conversation with what serendipity is, and how it’s different than simple chance, and is instead a kind of smart luck, which requires acting on the unexpected and connecting the dots of seemingly random events. We then discuss the three types of serendipity, the obstacles to experiencing this force, and how the amount of serendipity you experience depends on how you frame the world. Christian explains how to develop a serendipity-seeking mindset, including how to intentionally seed triggers for it. We end our conversation with how organizations and not just individuals can take steps to strategically leverage the power of serendipity.

Here are the program highlights:

• How is serendipity different from luck or chance?
• How the discovery of Viagra was actually quite serendipitous 
• What it takes to develop a serendipitous mindset 
• Becoming more open and observant 
• Proactively seeking out serendipitous triggers in our life
• Leveraging technology to create your own luck 
• Managing serendipity overload once you become more aware of it 
• The beautiful power of used bookstores 
• How your bad luck can be turned around for good

Interesting days

Today - Chocolate Cake Day, World Breast Pumping Day and National Geographic Day

Tomorrow - International Lego Day, Data Privacy Day, Blueberry Pancake Day, Kazoo Day and Global Community Engagement Day

Next Wednesday - Carrot Cake Day and Golden Retriever Day

Week long celebrations:

Feb 1 - Feb 7: Cheerleading Week

Feb 1 - Feb 7: School Counseling Week

Feb 1 - Feb 7: Pride in Food Service Week

Feb 1 - Feb 7: Solo Diners Eat Out Week

Feb 1 - Feb 7: African Heritage and Health Week

Jan 30 - Feb 6: Cordova Iceworm Festival Week

February 27 - Pokémon Day, World NGO Day, Kahlua Day, Open That Bottle Night, Strawberry Day, Polar Bear Day and Sword Swallower’s Day

Week long celebrations:

Feb 20 - Feb 28: Real Bread Week

Feb 27 - Mar 7: Jewish Book Week

Feb 22 - Feb 28: Invasive Species Awareness Week

Feb 22 - Mar 7: Fairtrade Fortnight

Feb 22 - Feb 28: Engineers Week

Feb 21 - Feb 28: Take Your Family to School Week