Who Needs Luck? Try Planned Serendipity | Wendy Lea, Inc.com

I recently bought and downloaded to my Kindle the book written by the subjects of this interview, Thor Muller and Lane Becker. Their best-selling book, Get Lucky: How to Put Planned Serendipity to Work for You and Your Business.

I'm looking forward to reading it. Meanwhile, this interview (and other articles I've read) will suffice.

Lea writes:

I recently spoke with Muller and Becker about how other companies can adopt this way of thinking for their businesses. Here's a taste of the great advice they have for people and companies of all sizes.

Here are Lea's questions. Muller and Becker answer them in the blog:

In Get Lucky, you admit that "luck" can be seen as a four-letter word." How is "planned serendipity" different than luck?

The idea of creating a structure that lends itself to chance is a bit of an oxymoron. Can you give some examples of structures that lend themselves to serendipitous encounters?

For companies accustomed to putting up walls dividing managers, employees and customers, this can be hard. What advice do you have for companies looking implement "permeability?"

You say that the start-up environment lends itself to planned serendipity, and that as businesses scale, it's harder to be open to chance. More walls go up. What are some practices that companies can implement as they grow to ensure they stay open to possibility?

Planning for serendipity requires activating the "geek brain." Can you talk a bit more about what that is and how people with huge responsibilities--like CEOs--can pause to get in touch with their geek brain, despite the stress of running a company?

What are some tips for leaders who want to communicate the "get lucky" attitude to their employees?

For more articles about serendipity, see the daily Happy Accidents paper at the Serendipity tab above.