Getting Lucky - Method to Madness

 Luck!

Many people believe that luck is purely random with no rhyme and reason to it.

That may be so.

However, certain people seem to be getting lucky repeatedly.

Psychologists did try to understand why it is so. Are there any personality traits that make people attract luck?

Indeed there seem to be a few traits that lucky people have.

This is not a paper on psychology.
My objective here is not to summarize those psychological studies. That you can explore on own.

In discussion with AI Chatbots, tried to present a few thoughts about luck in the sections below without any jargon.

Awareness about these six personality traits may help you imbibe them subconsciously.

Good Luck!


Personality Trait#1:Taking Action Quickly
When the opportunity presents itself, people get lucky by seizing the opportunity.

Not dilly dallying or procrastinating or avoiding the risks altogether. Action is the essence of people getting lucky.

There is a beautiful discussion illustrating this in the book - Richest Man in Babylon. The chapter is aptly titled "Meet the Goddess of Goodluck".
Arkad, the richest  man in Babylon, explains that luck is not merely a random occurrence but often the result of action. He believes that luck favors those who are prepared and proactive.

Arkad emphasizes that opportunities for good luck are all around but are often missed due to inaction or hesitation. He shares his belief that taking decisive action is crucial to attracting good luck.


Personality Trait#2: Having People On Your Side
Opportunities come your way more when you have people on your side. It's a two way street. Learn to show appreciation.

This IG video talks of second point.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-TfdBGhayv



Anecdote:Sticky Success: The Accidental Innovation and Perseverance Behind Post-it Notes


In 1968, 3M scientist Spencer Silver accidentally created a weak, removable adhesive while attempting to develop a strong one. The discovery languished for six years until Silver's colleague, Art Fry, found an innovative use for it. Frustrated by bookmarks falling out of his hymnal, Fry applied Silver's adhesive to paper, creating removable, repositionable notes.

Despite the invention's potential, 3M's initial product launch in 1977 under the name "Press'n Peel" failed due to poor sales and customer confusion. Undeterred, 3M rebranded the product as "Post-it Notes" and launched a free sample campaign in Boise, Idaho in 1979. This time, it was an overnight success.

The journey from accidental discovery to market triumph took over a decade, highlighting the roles of serendipity, collaboration, and perseverance in innovation. As Silver noted, Post-it Notes became a product nobody knew they needed until they had it.


Anecdote:From a Chance Conversation to Billion-Dollar Idea: The Instagram Pivot

Kevin Systrom initially developed a location-based app called Burbn, which allowed users to check in, share photos, and earn points. After meeting with venture capitalists at a party who mentioned the growing popularity of photo-sharing apps, Systrom and co-founder Mike Krieger decided to pivot Burbn's focus solely to photo sharing. They stripped away all other features, keeping only the ability to take photos, apply filters, and share them with friends. The streamlined app, named Instagram, launched in October 2010 and quickly gained immense popularity, reaching 1 million users in just 2 months. In April 2012, Facebook acquired Instagram for $1 billion, marking one of the largest acquisitions in social media history at the time.



Personality Trait #3: Staying Curious:
Constantly seeking new knowledge and experiences can lead to unexpected opportunities.


Anecdote: Alexander Fleming and Penicillin:
Fleming's curiosity about a contaminated Petri dish led to the discovery of penicillin. He noticed that mold had accidentally grown on a culture plate of Staphylococcus bacteria, and the area around the mold was clear of bacteria.
He correctly concluded that the mold was secreting a substance that killed the bacteria, which he named penicillin. His curiosity about this observation eventually led to the development of antibiotics, revolutionizing medicine.



Anecdote: Percy Spencer and the Microwave Oven:
Spencer, an engineer at Raytheon, was working with magnetrons when he noticed that a chocolate bar in his pocket had melted. His curiosity about this phenomenon led to experiments that eventually resulted in the invention of the microwave oven.


Anecdote: Google Products:
Their '20% time' policy allows employees to spend part of their workweek on projects of personal interest, leading to innovations like Gmail and Google News.


Personality Trait #4:Expand Your Horizons:
Engaging in diverse activities and meeting new people increases the chance of encountering opportunities.

This concept is closely related to what psychologist Richard Wiseman calls "opportunity awareness" in his research on lucky people. He found that individuals who consider themselves lucky tend to be more open to new experiences and better at noticing and acting on opportunities.


Anecdote: How Starbucks is what it is today
Howard Schultz joined Starbucks in 1982 as the Director of Marketing. At that time, Starbucks was primarily a coffee bean retailer with a few stores in Seattle, not the coffeehouse chain we know today.

In 1983, Schultz took a business trip to Italy. While in Milan, he visited espresso bars and was struck by the coffee culture he encountered. He noticed that these cafes served not just as places to get coffee, but as community gathering spots. The baristas knew their customers by name, and there was a sense of ceremony and theater in the way the coffee was prepared and served.

This experience had a profound impact on Schultz. He saw the potential to bring this café culture to America and transform the way Americans consumed coffee. Upon returning to Seattle, he tried to convince the Starbucks owners to test the coffeehouse concept, but they were reluctant to move away from their core business of selling coffee beans.

Frustrated but determined, Schultz left Starbucks in 1985 to start his own coffee company, Il Giornale. This venture was successful, and in 1987, with the help of local investors, Schultz acquired Starbucks for $3.8 million.

As the new owner, Schultz began to implement his vision of turning Starbucks into a chain of coffeehouses modeled after the Italian espresso bars he had experienced. He focused on creating a "third place" between home and work where people could relax, meet friends, or work in a comfortable environment.

Under Schultz's leadership, Starbucks expanded rapidly. By the time he stepped down as CEO in 2000, Starbucks had grown from 11 stores to over 3,500 worldwide. When he returned as CEO in 2008, he helped the company weather the financial crisis and continued its global expansion.

This story illustrates how expanding one's horizons through travel and exposure to different cultures can lead to innovative ideas and opportunities. Schultz's willingness to experience and embrace a different coffee culture led to the transformation of Starbucks and, arguably, America's coffee culture as a whole.


Anecdote: Oprah Winfrey's Journey in Media business
Oprah Winfrey's career took off when she took a chance on a job at a local black radio station while still in high school. The experience she gained and the connections she made there were pivotal in launching her successful media career.

After winning a beauty pageant at age 17, Winfrey was offered an on-air job at a radio station serving the African American community. This early opportunity allowed her to hone her skills in broadcasting and public speaking, setting the stage for her future success.

She later moved to another city to join a television news team, where she co-hosted her first talk show. Her powerful, empathetic approach to storytelling quickly made her stand out in the industry.

Winfrey's big break came when she moved to Chicago to host a morning talk show. Within months, the show topped the ratings, leading to its rebranding as 'The Oprah Winfrey Show.' This marked the beginning of Winfrey's journey to becoming a media mogul and billionaire.



Personality Trait#5: Taking Calculated Risks:
Being willing to step out of your comfort zone, while managing risks, can lead to breakthroughs.

Jeff Bezos (Amazon):
He says: "I knew that if I failed I wouldn't regret that, but I knew the one thing I might regret is not trying.

Jeff Bezos took a significant risk by leaving his stable job on Wall Street to start Amazon as an online bookstore. He reinvested profits back into the company to expand into other product categories, despite criticism and skepticism. This calculated risk paid off, making Amazon one of the largest and most influential e-commerce platforms in the world.


Sara Blakely:
Sara Blakely invested her life savings of $5,000 into developing Spanx, a line of body-shaping undergarments. She took a calculated risk by pursuing her idea despite having no prior experience in the fashion industry. Her persistence and innovative product led to a billion-dollar business.

She says: "Don't be afraid to fail. Be afraid not to try."
Blakely emphasizes the significance of taking risks and pushing forward despite the fear of failure.


Personality Trait #6: Maintaining Open Awareness

Lucky people often possess the ability to remain relaxed and maintain a broader awareness of their environment, even when engaged in specific tasks.

This open awareness allows them to notice unexpected opportunities or important details that others might miss.

In psychological studies, these individuals are more likely to spot unexpected information or solutions, much like those who noticed the photo count on the second page of a test while others were too focused on counting all photos individually.

This trait enables people to see the bigger picture and make connections that aren't immediately obvious to others.

In the Post-It story above, Art Fry attended his church choir practice and used the prototype notes to mark pages in his hymnal. He noticed how effectively they stayed in place without damaging the pages, and how easily he could remove and reposition them.

This relaxed, open awareness in a non-work setting led to the realization of a perfect use case for the product, ultimately contributing to its eventual success.

Bonus Trait:
Silly Putty was invented by James Wright in 1943 while he was attempting to create a rubber substitute for the U.S. War Production Board during World War II. 

By mixing boric acid with silicone oil, he accidentally created a stretchy, bouncy material that could pick up newspaper print.

Initially dismissed for practical use, it gained popularity when marketer Peter Hodgson rebranded it as "Silly Putty" and packaged it in plastic eggs for Easter sales in 1950. The toy became a cultural phenomenon, even accompanying astronauts on Apollo 8.

Like the weak glue of Post-It, this is also an accidental invention.
Needed certain level of playfulness by the marketer to make it a successful product.

So, we may say that being a little playful is a personality trait for getting lucky.

Don't be serious always.

Epilogue:

That is all I have my friend.

This is not a rigid list.

There may be more.

If you come accross any other trait worth adding here, please do drop in a line.

So long.

Best of Luck!