Harnessing Serendipity: Collaboration Artists, Conveners and Connectors 
David Adler with James Cornehlsen and Andrew Frothingham as well as 66 Other Collaborators
Published by David Adler (April 2023)

“Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else. “ Margaret Mead

As you may know already, serendipity is the discovery of new information by a happy accident when actually seeking something altogether different. A famous example is the discovery by the British medical scientist Alexander Fleming (1881–1955) of the antibiotic property of penicillin mold. The key ingredients also include surprise, delight, irony, timing, and convergence.

In The Serendipity Mindset, Christian Busch explains that in order to act on triggers of serendipity, people need the courage to do so. Because serendipity is unexpected, acting on it requires us to do something new and sometimes to deviate from an existing plan. As delightful as finding serendipity looks in retrospect, it might be challenging in the moment.

How to explain the process by which this book was created? It probably began with David Adler who developed a bold, compelling vision. He enlisted James Cornehlsen and Andrew Frothingham as initial collaborators. Then they carefully enlisted 66 other thought leaders to extend, expand, and nourish a truly unique collaboration. Its ultimate objective was — and remains — to engage as many other thought leaders as possible to help harness serendipity “to make our world more collaborative.”

According to one of my own sources, Zorzana Ivcevic Pringle, the research in her lab at Yale “shows that whether we succeed to make creativity happen depends on four kinds of things: our expectations of ourselves and what creative work looks like, our ability to sustain effort and persist in the face of obstacles, our willingness to revise and restrategize as our ideas evolve and change, and social supports and barriers that enable or impede our progress.”

David Adler suggests that all of the contributors to this book have succeeded in harnessing serendipity. “They’ve continually remained open and dedicated to collaboration with others, with an eye towards surprise. They’ve leaned into the things they do not know. They’ve prioritized being surprised. And they’ve come to have profound insights as to how serendipity, something we equate with fate, can be turned into an actively harnessed practice.”(Page xvi)

Here is a representative selection of observations provided by contributors to this book:

o  “It’s all about how I make you feel. We are continually manipulating and enhancing all the senses to tell a story with a carefully thought-out beginning, middle, and end.” Colin Cowie

o  “We can’t take care of people until we take care of ourselves.”  Tahira Enxean

o  “It’s always the people. Whether it’s a big conversation with many people or just two people talking, trust and humor are essential. That’s the tone you want. When it’s present, everyone just relaxes and enjoys.” Coach Kathy Kemper

o  “Most times, when people finish playing in a jam session, they always shake hands with a hug — even the people they didn’t know before the session. That’s a sign of respect, and of co-creation.” Wynton Marsalis

o  “I want to be the dumbest guy in the room. I want to surround myself with the smartest people.” Seth Moulton

o  “Attention doesn’t have an on/off switch. It comes in stages. You have to build short-term attention by disrupting expectations, and build long-term attention, too. That’s how you get anything done over the long term.” Ben Parr

o  “When I run into friends, they’d ask, ‘What are you doing?’ I’d reply, ‘I’m trying to buy a baseball team.’ And all of a sudden, they’d ask, ‘Can I participate too?'” Nick Sakellariadis

o  “We even celebrate failures. There’s nothing wrong with failing. We all fail.” Hervé Sedky

o  “My best advice to anyone at any stage of their career is to figure out what makes you different and just do a lot more of that — and keep going.”  Sarah Shewey

o  “A good metaphor stays in our system.” Caitlin Waker

At the conclusion of each profile, the co-authors insert a reader-friendly device of substantial value: “WHAT WE HEARD AND LEARNED,” a set of key points. Those who read this book — who absorb and digest the information, insights, and counsel provided in it — are invited to make their own contributions to the common cause but also to their own initiatives worthy of artful collaboration.

Here are two concluding suggestions while reading Harnessing Serendipity. Highlight key passages, and, keep a lined notebook near at hand in which you record your comments, questions, and page references. These two simple tactics will facilitate, indeed expedite frequent review of key material later.

Think of your notebook as a draft-in-progress of the operations manual that will be needed as you extend and enrich your collaborative initiatives in months and years to come.