Be Open to the Lucky Breaks

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“At first,“ Jon Badeen said, “it wasn’t meant to be the main way people would use the app.” It was just a fun feature inspired by a deck of cards Badeen fiddled with. Shuffling through the cards was fun, so maybe the app could be too.

Users loved it. “There was no turning back.” And Tinder took off.

We follow best practices. We optimize actions. We work hard. But sometimes we have to be lucky.

There are great famous accidents: penicillin, velcro, and post-it notes. There are smaller ones too: the slinky, silly putty, and cornflakes.

But while best practices force focus, they block discovery.

In 1979 a football coach was on his way to scout James Owens, an Olympian turned footballer. He’s fast, the coach thought, but can he play football?

Needing someone to throw the ball to Owens, the coach enlisted another prospect working out nearby. That kid was Joe Montana.

Be open to the universe sounds too woo-woo for some. We get that. Some work is cranking wrenches, dialing for dollars, and driving to meetings.

But some is woo-woo, dumb luck, and right-time-right-place. It’s good to have both.

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