Congratulations to Ranjay Gulati on today’s launch of *How to Be Bold*! As Adam Grant puts it, it's "an engrossing, evidence-based, and actionable guide to acting in the face of fear": lnkd.in/gECPs7hj

Is serendipity really serendipitous? Henry Mintzberg just published a wonderfully playful reflection that grew out of our last Academy of Management session on serendipity. A light, insightful read on how small, unplanned moments can shape organizations and careers: bit.ly/henrymintzbe...

What's the role of emotion and energy when it comes to serendipity? Great new paper by Nele Terveen in the Journal of Business Venturing Insights, well worth a read! Well worth a read! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

How do chance, luck, and serendipity really shape strategy? We’ll explore this question at the upcoming SMS conference in San Francisco. We’d love for you to join, and to share with anyone else who might be curious about the topic!

Human agency embeds fragility into systems, creating misfortune by design. Resilience depends on dismantling the patterns that make bad luck inevitable. @chrisserendip.bsky.social

How do we turn the unexpected into something valuable? Over the past few years, I’ve been part of a growing community exploring this question. I’m thrilled that one outcome—a paper developing a theory of serendipity—has just received the 2024 Best Paper Award from the Journal of Management Studies!

One of the reasons I love academia: working with curious, hardworking students to prepare them for a meaningful (& lucky!) life by “cultivating serendipity.” This year’s MBA students in our USC Career Launchpad (Consulting Track) brought incredible energy, sharp thinking, and great questions.

"You might think of serendipity as passive luck that just happens to you, when actually it’s an active process of spotting and connecting the dots." psyche.co/guides/how-t...

Do you have a paper idea on chance, luck, or serendipity? We’re excited to invite submissions for our session at the Academy of Management 2025 Annual Meeting; deadline is tomorrow (July 15)! Saturday, July 26, 14:00–16:00, Bella Center: Auditorium 10 Submit here: shorturl.at/P78Vj

What if the most transformative learning moments aren't planned? A great new editorial by professor Sigrid Harendza in the GMS Journal for Medical Education explores the role of serendipity in medical education, and offers a powerful reminder for any field: journals.publisso.de/index.php/en...

“If this was the last day of my life, would I rather have dinner with the important customer or with her"? Steve Jobs' beautiful serendipity story (and our related research) featured in INC.: bit.ly/JobsSerendip.... More on our related research: bit.ly/nextbigideaclub

Delighted that Dan Wadhwani will be the next Director of USC's Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies! Dan is such a great person to carry the center forward. If you’re interested in entrepreneurship research and practice in LA and beyond, this is your place! www.marshall.usc.edu/departments/...

Wonderful to see how much momentum the serendipity conversation is gaining at this year’s Academy of Management meeting:𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐲-𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬 won 𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐏𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 & there are 20ish serendipity-related items on the agenda! If anyone still needs an excuse to explore this space, here it is:)

Life’s twists aren’t always in our control; but how we respond is. It was a real pleasure to speak at the recent Learn-A-Thon hosted by PayPal, where we explored how "career luck" can be cultivated. The idea isn’t to chase some forced notion of “always stay positive.” It’s about rational optimism.

A big thank you to the organizers of the Babson Entrepreneurship Conference for an inspiring few days! Beyond learning from so many great conversations, I was grateful for the chance to talk about the 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐉𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 special issue on chance, luck & serendipity: bit.ly/smjserendipity

How we talk about luck—and serendipity—shapes how we experience it. In this conversation with Shushan Karapetian, we explore how language, culture, and mindset influence our ability to spot and act on the unexpected. 👉 Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzPU... #SerendipityMindset #Leadership

How can we create "active luck" for impact and innovation? Looking forward to this upcoming NGO Academy talk on The Serendipity Mindset (virtual/open to all). Join us? 🗓️ 21 May 2025 | 🕕 6:00–7:30pm CEST | 💻 Online 🔗 bit.ly/ngoserendipity

The updated Serendipity Mindset homepage now includes links to all international editions and translations of 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙥𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙈𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙨𝙚𝙩: theserendipitymindset.com/books/

“Compound serendipity works like compound interest.” As Gita Wirjawan-Indonesia’s former Minister of Trade and a remarkable lateral thinker- reflected, serendipity often isn’t just about isolated chance moments. It’s about creating systems where opportunity keeps building on itself.

𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝗻 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗣𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘀: 𝗔𝗼𝗠 𝗣𝗗𝗪 𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗟𝘂𝗰𝗸 & 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗽𝗶𝘁𝘆 Does your research explore themes of luck, serendipity, or chance? We invite you to join our Academy of Management PDW at the 2025 Annual Meeting–and receive constructive feedback on your work! 📩 Submit here: bit.ly/aom2025pdw

Shoutout to Nele Terveen—first author on our new paper on the “serendipity paradox” (with Cheryl Wakslak and myself), which won a Best Paper Award at this year’s Academy of Management annual meeting!

Does your research explore themes of luck, serendipity, or chance? We invite you to join our Academy of Management PDW on 'Luck, Chance, and Serendipity' at the 2025 Annual Meeting – and receive constructive feedback on your work! 📩 Submit here: bit.ly/aom2025pdw

If you're curious about our upcoming 𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙘 𝙈𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙅𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙖𝙡 (𝙎𝙈𝙅) special issue on chance, luck, and serendipity, here’s the recording of our recent info session: bit.ly/smjspecialis...

Are you interested in exploring the role of chance, luck, and serendipity in strategy and management? Join us for the 𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒄 𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑱𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒍 special issue virtual information session next week! bit.ly/SMJchanceluc... 📝 Call for papers: bit.ly/SMJCallforPa...

1/x Great new format by the Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal (SEJ), featuring our (with ROBERT MUDIDA) paper on how entrepreneurs in Kenya navigate ethnically diverse networks: Introducing SEJ Soundbite 🎙️

(1/x) "If you always play to what’s expected, you don’t encourage serendipity." At our @aomconnect.bsky.social panel, @mintzberg.bsky.social shared insights on serendipity: 🔹 We often over-organize for the expected. A packed schedule can block chance encounters that spark career-defining moments.

(1/5): After a few turbulent weeks, it was a breath of fresh air to be part of the Organization Science Winter Conference. On our serendipity panel, we explored how chance encounters and unexpected moments shape organizations. Some key takeaways:

How do surprises—both good and bad—shape our lives in profound ways? And how can we respond? Inspiring discussion with Reinhard Schneider, CEO of Werner & Mertz GmbH (home to iconic brands like Frosch): www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxIT.... (In German, but YouTube’s translation feature works well!)

Join us for a lively LSE Marshall Institute discussion with Jessica Pryce-Jones and Stephan Chambers, where we’ll explore how intuition can be sharpened, when to trust it (or not), and how it helps cultivate serendipity: bit.ly/unlockingourintuition (virtual/free/open to all).

Join us for this virtual information session for our 𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒄 𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑱𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒍 Special Issue on 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐤, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐲. 📝 Learn more and register for the session: bit.ly/aom2024serendipity 📢 Details about the SMJ Call for Papers: bit.ly/SMJCallforPapers

My superb colleagues at USCMarshall's Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies—one of the world’s leading entrepreneurship centers—are seeking experienced practitioner faculty to join their ranks as Professors of Clinical Entrepreneurship or of Practice: usccareers.usc.edu/job/los-ange...

Have you ever wondered how exactly the different Academy of Management journals differ from each other? This new editorial by the (former) editors of all AoM journals provides an insightful explanation of the unique focus and value of each publication. Full article: journals.aom.org/doi/10.5465/...

What do Oprah, Seneca, Pasteur, & von Hayek have in common? They all believe(d) in cultivating a muscle for the unexpected—embracing the role of chance, luck, and serendipity in shaping our lives.* May serendipity be with you! [*Opportunity is unequally distributed & bad luck can happen to anyone!]

Looking forward to an insightful virtual conversation with LSE Marshall Institute Director Stephan Chambers and author Jessica Pryce-Jones to discuss Jess' new book on intution! 🗓️ Date: February 4th, 2025 🕔 Time: 17:00-19:00 GMT 📍 Virtual, free, open to all 🔗 Register here: bit.ly/unlockingour...

When I lived in London, BBC Radio 4 was my go-to station—so it felt both nostalgic and thrilling to contribute to this episode of 'Free Thinking'! We reflected on the themes of superstition, luck, and predictability. 🎧 Listen to the recording here: bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Join us tomorrow at 9pm GMT for a live conversation on BBC Radio 4 about the role of luck, predictability, and superstition: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Are you interested in the role of chance, luck, or serendipity in shaping management and strategy? Join us for a virtual information session about the upcoming Strategic Management Journal Special Issue!

Two years ago, under the exceptional guidance of editor Andrea Prencipe, we published the first version of what remains the paper I am most excited about. This project took a village, with over 20 subject-matter experts contributing valuable feedback: bit.ly/theoryserend...

Are you looking for effective ways to develop your ideas into a top management journal article? Check out this great new editorial in the Academy of Management Journal. The authors introduce the "AMJ Management Research Canvas," a tool for mapping out paper ideas: journals.aom.org/doi/full/10....

Serendipity is not a passive force but a dynamic process that we can actively shape, something to embrace as a source of opportunity and delight. Christian Busch explains why, and how to go about it: https://buff.ly/3A3Lpig

For Educators: Complimentary Copies of CONNECT THE DOTS Thanks to our generous distributor, we have some complimentary copies available for educators — whether you’re a professor, teacher, coach, or psychologist. If you’re interested in receiving a copy, register here: bit.ly/educatorcopi...

Are you looking for effective ways to develop your ideas into a top management journal article? Check out this great new editorial in the Academy of Management Journal. The authors introduce the "AMJ Management Research Canvas," a tool for mapping out paper ideas: journals.aom.org/doi/full/10....

Call for Papers: Strategic Management Journal Special Issue on “Chance, Luck, and Serendipity”! The goal of this Special Issue is to explore the role of chance, luck, and serendipity in management and strategy. Submission deadline: November 1, 2025. More information: bit.ly/SMJCallforPapers