What is serendipity? The following definition is usually used to define serendipity: “the ability to make successful and unexpected findings accidentally” or “finding something magnificent when we are looking for something different”.
This means to get not what we had planned, but something that goes even further. It means to arrive at the top floor when we had planned to go to the first floor.
Heraclitus said: “expect the unexpected and you will not find it, because it does not leave any trace”. Think about the times something has led you to a totally different finding.
Expecting the unexpected is an attitude consisting, according to Roger Von Oech, in:
- Leaving apart pre-conceived ideas about what we are expecting to find
- Paying attention to what we consider anomalous or unusual, instead of forgetting about it
- Using what we find as a base for something different.
We will add that you should fix an objective or interest. As the person has a higher challenge, he/she might observe around him/her, trying to get clues to help achieving his/her objective. Unless you have an objective or interest, serendipity will remain unattended, as Heraclitus said.
“Luck favours the prepared minds” said Pasteur and this is what we are going to try to do: prepare our minds for chance to give us a hand.