Getting to know Dr. Christian Busch… On the Sunnie Side

Exactly one year ago, back when social gatherings were safe and serendipitous meetings possible, I met Dr. Christian Busch at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Christian is the Director of the Global Economy Programme at New York University and was attending the WEF to discuss his latest book ‘The Serendipity Mindset.’

I have since interviewed him for my Youtube series “On the Sunnie Side” – a series in cooperation with Forbes – to learn more about the mindset and tools we need to turn unexpected events into positive ones. In a nutshell, Christian says that rather than thinking of luck as something that happens to us we should instead see it as an active process that we can influence. Essentially we can build a muscle for detecting the unexpected and turning it into beneficial outcomes.

A case study of this in action within a company context happened with a Chinese white goods company. The company would receive several calls from farmers informing them that their machines broke whenever they tried to wash potatoes in them. The company used this feedback to install a dirt filter into their machines. Instead of replying that their machines are for clothes only, they seized the opportunity of creating a product that appeals to a broader customer base – farmers in China. Here the reaction to the unexpectedness was what enabled the success.

I then went on to ask Christian how every one of us can cultivate a serendipity mindset in our lives, to find out more tune into our full conversation on the F15′ youtube channel.