Few would argue with the notion that those who are lucky seem to have an easier ride of everything. Luck, somehow, seems to pave the way for their getting to a connection they needed to get to but did not know how, or getting a contract they desperately need but have no idea whether it's going to happen or not. Or even, coming across someone who can really help open doors without even trying very hard.
When it comes to business those individuals who are perceived as being 'lucky' are fought over as everyone wants to have them on their team. These days we know that nothing is quite as lucky or coincidental as it at first seems. Our love for data has shown us that everything happens as a result of something else and this includes 'luck'. Serendipity, by definition, is discovering something unexpected when you were not looking for it and realizing that it is even more relevant to you than the thing you were actually looking for.
Whether we are talking business or semantic search, serendipity can be engineered. Not quite to the degree that it happens to order (though wouldn't that be a totally awesome thing?) but in a way that makes it more likely to happen.
Luck, we now know, depends upon keeping an open mind, working across silos and cultivating rich networks of contacts with a varied depth of interests. For a more detailed look at how serendipity works in semantic search check out this piece here.
For a quick check on whether you are already doing enough to generate your own well of luck ask yourself three questions:
Am I forming new relationships? - This requires that you connect with others both online and offline that are active in more than just your industry sector and actually get to know them well enough for the information to flow.
Am I generating real value in my content? - There is content that's produced because, you know, you have to blow your own horn and advertise your products and services and content that's produced because you genuinely have something of value to share with your audience and you're too stoked to wait any longer. It's usually this kind of content that resonates enough to travel across narrow social network groups and help you find a wider audience which then becomes instrumental to the creation of a host of opportunities.
Am I driving engagement in my social network contacts? - Serendipity, luck and opportunity are separate, related facets of the same thing: the ability of people to connect with people at a level that's sufficiently real for the human contact to emerge. When that happens things miraculously become easier. Information that's hard to get may be offered without any strings attached from the most unlikely source. Services that are much needed may suddenly appear. Requests for partnership or cooperation may come from the least expected quarters. All of these things are part of the rich tapestry of human connections which, in a world where marketing appears to become very modular and very automated, usually emerge with great difficulty.
Serendipity can appear to be a little like magic. A moment in which the universe has listened to us and, incredibly enough, answered our question.