Dictionary.com defines serendipity as: “an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident.”
I love this definition. Unlike luck, which is defined: “to prosper or succeed through good fortune," serendipity suggests that we can cultivate a talent for making discoveries by honing our ability to perceive the potential in things.
Potential surrounds us, yet often, we become so engrossed in what we consider "important work" that we fail to notice the possibilities.
Small example: several years ago, I was walking across the tarmac at JFK with my face in my phone, engrossed in a message that came in while on my short flight. Simultaneously, airport employees were shuffling the new passengers toward the plane. As I looked up to avoid running into anyone, I came face to face with my Aunt Shute (real name, Judy, but evidently I couldn’t say “Judy” as a child, so “Shute," stuck). Neither one of us lived in New York, nor did we live in the same state, but there we were, serendipitously hugging in the shadow of one of the world’s busiest airports.
It happens at work, all the time. You have a chance encounter with someone while grabbing a snack from the canteen and all of a sudden you’re brainstorming the project you’re working on; or while at a bar, waiting for a friend, you strike up a conversation with someone who exactly needs the services you provide.
Sometimes it is more subtle, and you have to explore a bit. Recently one of my CTO clients missed his flight and was stuck at an airport lounge for hours. He chatted with fellow travelers as he waited, and while he had several pleasant conversations, he didn’t find any deep meaning in any of them. However, one of his airport lounge compatriots left a women’s magazine that my client wouldn’t have typically picked up…but, he was bored, so he flipped through the pages, and stopped to read an article by a young woman who had pretty strong views on AI. Since his company is heavily leaning into AI, it piqued his interest, and from that chair, in that lounge, he reached out to the author and they are now working together as collaborators.
These are not examples of dumb luck: as the original definition states, it is an aptitude for making desirable discoveries. I might call this an openness or curiosity about possibility. With all due respect to dictionary.com, I would add that serendipity also involves taking some action. My CTO client could have just filed away the article as interesting, but instead, he took the initiative to reach out to the author.
Openness + Potential + Action = Serendipity
How are you cultivating serendipity?
