Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Coincidences, Serendipity and Business Success


I am a believer in serendipity and coincidences and the amazing power it has in our lives. Hey one of my favorite sayings is “coincidences is gods way of being anonymous.” In a book by Glenn Llopis titled Earning Serendipity he talks about serendipity and the 4 steps that build pathways to prosperity. [www.earningserendipity.com/the-book.php]

The one that really resonated with me was seeing with circular vision. He describes that when you broaden your observation beyond what you seek and beyond the obvious details in front of you, you enlarge your field of opportunities.


I think that’s so true! I was a one person show until I received an unsolicited call from someone looking for work. Rather than being dismissive we spoke for a bit and he shared that he had designed his own magazine in Ireland. Coincidentally I learned earlier that day that I was chosen to design a magazine, something which I felt completely unprepared for! Hence my first employee.


I comfortably search within conversations in business settings for links, the numerous aha moments with surprise connections. You know, where did you grow up, what book did you just read and love? And when I network for business it especially helps me to feel less awkward. Where my difficulty seems to arise is comfortably doing the same with family and friends for “business” aha moments. Finding the links that might lead to business referrals seemed too tacky.


Maybe this comes easier for men, you know over a round of golf with pals the conversation naturally shifts to business connections. I hate to generalize but not so for women. Conversations with our friends tend to drift towards our children or the most recent guy in our lives. Of course we might complain about work or ask for business advice but asking friends or family for business connections seems to be pushy and personally speaking almost taboo.


I’m seriously trying to rethink my point of view and will attempt to use the powerful tool of “serendipity” in all phases of my life. HELP! Any thoughts or advice on how to get there please share.

–Ann Byne, Principal of The Byne Group


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very interesting theories. I read the book and found it quite intriguing, any other reading suggestions?

Ann Byne said...

Thks for your comment. Another good book, The Power of Pull by John Hagel lll, John Seeley Brown and Lang Davison, also talks about Serendipity.