On Serendipity

The Practical Polymath #92

Hi Friends, 

Greetings from Manhattan! 

This was a big week. Shortly after dinner on Monday night, my wife and I grabbed our bags, jumped in an Uber and headed toward the Upper East Side. Our baby girl was born on Tuesday at 2.14pm. She takes long naps on my chest, her head tucked into her two tiny fists.

In other news, I’m especially excited to share the second episode of a new series of interviews I launched. You definitely don’t want to miss this one!

Until next time,

Florian

---

🏹 Archers: Adam Tank - Entrepreneur/ Microbiologist/ Writer 

Adam Tank is a microbiologist-turned-entrepreneur, writer, and self-proclaimed water geek. I met Adam a few years back when he was tutoring an online course, but it was only a few months ago that we got to catch up over coffee in New York. He told me he was finishing up a book about a topic that had obsessed him for a while: serendipity. Fast forward to today, and "Luck by Design" is out. In the book, Adam unpacks the science behind the tiny moments in life that lead to big changes. I read it in one sitting, and it sparked so many questions that I couldn't pass up the opportunity to interview him.

What prompted you to write this book?

It was an itch I had to scratch - unlike many of the wild ideas I have where the urge to create usually goes away after a few months. The premise of this book kept nagging at me for many, many years… I’ve always been fascinated by how the things we can’t see (and can’t control) impact our lives, and in many cases, only in hindsight can we connect the dots of our life trajectory. The combination of takeaways from a number of different books and authors I’ve been inspired by (Nassim Taleb, Chip & Dan Heath, Adam Grant, Malcom Gladwell) continued to swirl in my head for many years until I finally decided to do something about it. Luck by Design is the culmination of those thoughts!

What central question did you set out to answer in “Luck by Design”?

Why are some people so seemingly ‘lucky’ and others seemingly floundering through life? Said another way, how do smart people create dumb luck? 

In the book, you introduce the concept of "catalysts" - small events that end up having an outsized impact on our lives. What principles do you personally apply to increase the likelihood of experiencing these catalysts?

The first - and most important - principle is simply to be aware of them when they happen. I break the book into three parts, the first being titled “The Catalyst Effect,” which lends itself to exactly this principle. These moments happen more often than we think… and in many cases, they aren’t obvious. Only when we recognize these moments’ life changing potential can we effectively harness them to increase the surface area for luck in our lives.

Fun fact - “The Catalyst Effect” was actually the original name of the book before I started teasing different title variants with a number of online groups! 

One of my favorite stories in the book involves you sending a supportive note to an old college friend after learning about his wrongful conviction. Later, he reveals that your note gave him the courage to put his life back on track. What did you take away from that experience?

I’m glad you enjoyed that one; Na’im has had a profound impact on my life - even to this day. My takeaway was that we all have the power to create moments in other people’s lives that can bend the pipeline of their trajectories for the better. We just have to act, even if it’s something as simple as a sentence on a postcard.

Drawing from the research you conducted while writing the book, what advice would you offer to someone seeking a significant change in their life?

Understand that change is baked into the fabric of the universe - things are changing all around you, and within you, as you read this. So rather than seeking change, understand that it’s already here, and it’s up to you to recognize the changes already happening and to take advantage of them. Work on becoming a better listener, becoming more perceptive, becoming more aware - and I guarantee you will find the change you are seeking.

How has the process of writing this book influenced your own approach to life and decision-making?

The science I uncovered while doing research for Luck by Design really opened my eyes to how little control we have over much of life, and just as importantly, how powerful the things we do have control over are. Understanding this balance from an academic & theoretical framework reinforced many of the principles I try to live by (as their impact wasn’t purely anecdotal anymore) and has helped me trust my gut, or intuition, more than ever.

Our culture is obsessed with goal setting. And yet, your book highlights the substantial role that chance and serendipity play in shaping our lives. Do we have it all wrong?

Not at all - I am a big believer in personal agency and ownership! But I do think we overestimate the role of goal setting and severely underestimate chance. They actually work really well together - oftentimes one can magnify the other, and it becomes a positive feedback loop (book reference ;) ), leading us to a new arena in life we could’ve never imagined for ourselves.

Lateral Thought 

“Wisdom cannot be imparted. Wisdom that a wise man attempts to impart always sounds like foolishness to someone else ... Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. One can find it, live it, do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it.”

Herman Hesse (Siddharta)