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I have a different take.
Chance, unforeseen events happen all the time. Good and bad, big and small.
“Luck” is the perspective that focuses on the chance, unforeseen nature of these events. (“He was just lucky!”)
But we can deal with chance events—even take advantage of them. https://twitter.com/AdamPaarsons/status/1194336699397988352
Chance, unforeseen events happen all the time. Good and bad, big and small.
“Luck” is the perspective that focuses on the chance, unforeseen nature of these events. (“He was just lucky!”)
But we can deal with chance events—even take advantage of them. https://twitter.com/AdamPaarsons/status/1194336699397988352
Planning is good, even necessary, but you can't plan for everything, because you can't foresee everything.
But you can *prepare* for random events. And, less appreciated but perhaps more important, a lot of luck is how you *respond* to events.
But you can *prepare* for random events. And, less appreciated but perhaps more important, a lot of luck is how you *respond* to events.
Re preparation vs. planning, Andy Grove captured it in this analogy from *High Output Management*: “You need to plan the way a fire department plans”
Note that both preparation and response—what you do before the chance event, and what you do after—are important *both* in the case of bad luck and *good* luck.
It's worth thinking about all four combinations:
It's worth thinking about all four combinations:
Preparing for bad luck:
Saving money, building healthy habits, maintaining good relationships with friends & family
In business: having good diligence around contracts and other legal matters, not being over-leveraged financially, having “bench strength” on your team
Saving money, building healthy habits, maintaining good relationships with friends & family
In business: having good diligence around contracts and other legal matters, not being over-leveraged financially, having “bench strength” on your team
Preparing for good luck:
Training, education, building up a portfolio of work before the day you “get noticed” or “catch a break”. Saving money (again) and not having too many commitments, so you can jump on new opportunities
Training, education, building up a portfolio of work before the day you “get noticed” or “catch a break”. Saving money (again) and not having too many commitments, so you can jump on new opportunities
Responding to bad luck:
Being excruciatingly honest about what went wrong and how you contributed, looking hard in the mirror, committing to improvement, coming out of an ordeal stronger
“What matters now is what you do next”
Being excruciatingly honest about what went wrong and how you contributed, looking hard in the mirror, committing to improvement, coming out of an ordeal stronger
“What matters now is what you do next”
Responding to good luck:
Seizing opportunities, recognizing when it's time to go into overdrive, being willing to throw out old assumptions when an opportunity comes along, focusing and not letting the opportunity slip through your fingers
Seizing opportunities, recognizing when it's time to go into overdrive, being willing to throw out old assumptions when an opportunity comes along, focusing and not letting the opportunity slip through your fingers
A lot of the moralizing around luck is about admonishing people to prepare; but response is perhaps more important.
Bad luck rarely kills you, and good luck almost *never* helps without you capitalizing on it. In both cases, response is critical
Bad luck rarely kills you, and good luck almost *never* helps without you capitalizing on it. In both cases, response is critical
In particular, I think that when people think about what matters in life, the opposite of “luck” in most people's minds is a notion of *preparing* for *bad* events—saving for a rainy day. I find this focus along to be pessimistic and uninspiring.
A better alternative to “luck” is “seize the day!”—*responding* well to *good* events, by focusing and capitalizing on them. This is much more inspiring to me.
I got this perspective in part from Jim Collins's book *Great By Choice*, which I recommend.
(Yeah, I know, lot of Collins haters out there, I still like him and I think he only deserves about 10% of the criticism he gets)
(Yeah, I know, lot of Collins haters out there, I still like him and I think he only deserves about 10% of the criticism he gets)
