The Serendipity Mindset

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What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

What if being lucky was a skill that you could master and share with other people?

Modern life can feel like an endless sequence of cancelled plans, last-minute meetings and delayed journeys. So how can we use unpredictability to our advantage? LSE and NYU academic Dr Christian Busch has spent a decade exploring how, if acted upon, unexpected encounters can enhance our worldview, expand our social circles and create new professional opportunities. In this book, he reveals the secrets behind the hidden force that rules the universe: serendipity.

From social mobility in Sub-Saharan Africa to accidental energy-saving multinationals in the West, he has studied hundreds of subjects internationally who improved their lives by learning to see opportunities in the unexpected. We meet people from all backgrounds, from couples who first interacted during chance encounters to businesspeople who invented multi-million ideas after a best-laid plan misfired, learning the fundamental common denominators among lucky people.

The Serendipity Mindset is a revolutionary exploration of a well-researched and essential life skill that we can all develop in a few simple steps. By learning to identify, act on and share it, we can use uncertainty as a pathway to more joyful, purposeful and successful lives.

© Dr Christian Busch 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

Critics Review

  • To fully leverage the discoverability and connectivity that today’s mobile networked world enables, you must hone your ability to connect the dots of chance encounters and seemingly random information in creative and productive ways. This book can help you do that – highly recommended!

    Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn and co-author of 'Blitzscaling'

  • Christian Busch shows us that understanding how serendipity works can change the way we work and live. Drawing from both cutting-edge science and real-world examples, The Serendipity Mindset is a wise, exciting and life-changing book

    Arianna Huffington, author of 'Thrive'

  • More than just a way to create exciting opportunities, it’s the foundation for a more optimistic and meaningful life. An important book for a complicated world

    Cal Newport, author of 'A World Without Email'

  • Christian Busch reveals that luck isn’t always dumb. People who can see what others don’t – who are awake to the high probability of the improbable – can achieve and contribute in ways their more blinkered colleagues cannot. A bracing and hopeful antidote to a world addicted to efficiency and control

    Daniel H. Pink, author of When and Drive

  • How to create the opportunities for a successful and fulfilling life? Christian Busch shows convincingly that it’s more than blind luck in The Serendipity Mindset, which offers excellent practical guidance for all

    Paul Polman, former CEO of Unilever and co-founder of IMAGINE

  • The book has changed my life for the better. During idle moments in which I might previously have second-guessed myself, I am now determined to say something kind, to thank someone, to make a connection

    Mr Porter

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