Connecting the Dots

“Using uncertainty and unpredictability as a pathway to innovation, impact, and smart luck by seeing and connecting the dots.”

I spent a few hours this week scanning a drawer full of published work that dated so far back it included an article titled, “Surfing the Net May Replace Going Shopping at the Mall.” (Nov. 1998)

Reviewing my stacks of old magazines, annual reports, brochures and newsletters, I was struck by the synchronicities of my career trajectory. When I wrote, “For Goodness Sake”, extolling the virtues of fundraising events for Meeting and Incentive Travel magazine, I didn’t imagine that 20 years later I’d be producing annual galas and community fundraisers. My early work as managing editor at a dental association opened an opportunity to edit a book about pediatric dentistry, years later. Roles in marketing and communications at a geriatric center and a holistic medical practice led to blog post assignments for a nationally accredited cancer center. Looking back at the last few decades, I realize how often I’ve had the good fortune to connect the dots and forge paths I could not have planned.

In the Winter 2020 issue of strategy+business, New York University’s Christian Busch makes the case that, “serendipity is a skill, resulting from a mindset that allows you to see and act on opportunities in seemingly unrelated facts or events.” Based on his research, Busch refers to a new paradigm, “that requires  leaders to combine a sense of meaningful direction, or purpose, with an appreciation of the unexpected, reframing challenges and relating them to core capabilities. … The serendipity mindset is part of a larger shift that is taking place in the cultures and values of some of the world’s biggest corporations and their leaders. It allows us to use uncertainty and unpredictability as a pathway to innovation, impact, and smart luck by seeing and connecting the dots.”

Sometimes the dots evade us and we need to stand back and refocus before seeing the connections. Other times it helps to bring in a new set of eyes, someone who may see our own patterns differently than we do.

There’s almost always more than one way to connect the dots. Being open and aware of the opportunities they represent might just be what you need to find the picture you’re seeking to create.