Get Lucky: How to Put Planned Serendipity to Work for You and Your Business

Praise For Get Lucky "You′ve heard the old saw, ′Chance favors prepared minds.′ Well, Get Lucky is the mind–preparer. This entertaining and practical book makes it clear that luck isn′t just for the lucky anymore." — Dan Heath , Switch and Made to Stick "Louis Pasteur and Thomas Jefferson would have endorsed this book. It′s a profound explication of an idea they each shared, that luck isn′t random,and that you can create the conditions where it flourishes. It′s a refreshing reminder that the spark of human creativity leaps into flame when weestablish the right conditions." — Tim O′Reilly , CEO of O′Reilly Media "By the end of this book, you will never again view planning luck as a contradiction, but rather as an imperative that cannot be ignored. Whether in your personal life or professional life, open yourself up to the profound possibilities of serendipity." — John Hagel , co–chairman, Center for the Edge; and co–author, The Power of Pull "Serendipity has been part of our not–so–secret sauce at Zappos from the very beginning. Get Lucky provides a framework for understanding how serendipity works, and shows how it can be used as a practice in life and business." — Tony Hsieh , CEO, Zappos.com, Inc.; bestselling author, Delivering Happiness "In a fast–moving world, seemingly random customer comments on sites like Facebook can make your year or sink your ship. Get Lucky prepares you and your organization well to recognize and act on these serendipitous moments. Don′t leave your success to chance!" — Charlene Li , Founder of Altimeter Group; author Groundswell and Open Leadership

1 Prepare for the Unpreparable 1 2 Skill: Motion—Breaking Out 29 3 Skill: Preparation—Anatomy of a Geek Brain 53 4 Skill: Divergence—The Garden of Forking Paths 81 5 Skill: Commitment—Burning the Ships 103 6 Skill: Activation—Church vs. Stadium 127 7 Skill: Connection—Needle in a Haystack 157 8 Skill: Permeability—Storming the Castle 177 9 Skill: Attraction—Magnetic Fields 203 10 Unraveling the Double Bind 227 Serendipiography 235 Acknowledgments 261 About the Authors 263 Index 265

Thor Muller is the cofounder andformer chief technology officer of GetSatisfaction, a groundbreaking online customer community platform used by over 65,000 companies. A five–time serial entrepreneur, Thor also started one of the world′s first Web design agencies in 1995, later acquired by Frog Design. Lane Becker has been working onthe Web since it began, from settingup web sites at his university in 1994 to cofounding Adaptive Path, the world′sfirst user experience design firm, andGet Satisfaction. Lane is also an advisor to Freestyle.vc, an early–stage Internet venture capital fund.

“You’ve heard the old saw, ‘Chance favors prepared minds.’ Well, Get Lucky is the mind–preparer. This entertaining and practical book makes it clear that luck isn’t just for the lucky anymore.” —Dan Heath, co–author, Switch and Made to Stick “Louis Pasteur and Thomas Jefferson would have endorsed this book. It′s a profound explication of an idea they each shared, that luck isn′t random, and that you can create the conditions where it flourishes. It′s a refreshing reminder that the spark of human creativity leaps into flame when we establish the right conditions.” —Tim O′Reilly, CEO of O′Reilly Media “We live in a world that is more and more volatile and unpredictable, where ‘luck’ plays an increasingly central role. By the end of this book, you will never again view planning luck as a contradiction, but rather as an imperative that cannot be ignored. Whether in your personal life or professional life, open yourself up to the profound possibilities of serendipity.” —John Hagel, co–chairman, Center for the Edge; and co–author, The Power of Pull “Serendipity has been part of our not–so–secret sauce at Zappos from the very beginning. We′ve seen first–hand how breakthroughs are so often due to the spontaneous collisions between people and ideas. Get Lucky provides a framework for understanding how serendipity works, and shows how it can be used as a practice in life and business.” —Tony Hsieh, CEO, Zappos.com, Inc.; bestselling author, Delivering Happiness “In a fast–moving world, seemingly random customer comments on sites like Facebook can make your year or sink your ship. Get Lucky prepares you and your organization well to recognize and act on these serendipitous moments. Don′t leave your success to chance!” —Charlene Li, Founder of Altimeter Group; author Groundswell and Open Leadership “In business, we plan to avert disaster, launch products, and forecast financials, but rarely do we plan to ‘get lucky.’ Thor and Lane’s method of planned serendipity should be part of every innovator’s toolkit.” —Beth Comstock, chief marketing officer, GE “Customers already run your company–and are moving farther out of your control every day. Fortunately, Thor and Lane are here to explain why this is the best possible thing that can happen, and how to make the most of it.” —Doc Searls, co–author, The Cluetrain Manifesto and The Intention Economy