There are thousands of legends about businesses becoming successful because the owner was in the right place at the right time, he was lucky. But, if you look closely at them you’ll find, that while “uncontrollable” good fortune may have played a part in the success, that isn’t the whole story. The real story is how the owner made his own “controllable” luck.
Many mangers think good fortune is uncontrollable (such as winning a bid or having good weather for the company picnic) and they either have it or they don’t. But, you can increase your chances of being lucky. Often, what’s perceived as, uncontrollable events can be managed to increase the odds of working out in your favor.
For example, anyone who has bid out a job has multiple stories about companies (who they wanted to award the contract to) who’ve knocked themselves out of the running. They weren’t unlucky — their bids were incomplete, sloppy, late or unrealistic, all things they had control over. Also, in northeastern Ohio there’s a better chance of having good weather for your picnic in June, not April.
If you look closely at most “his successful business is due to luck” stories you’ll find they usually have 4 things in common. One of them is that there is a dose of luck involved. But, the other 3 are more important. Each story shows a person augmenting his good fortune through controllable behaviors, which you can also do.
Pay attention – Put down the cell phone, step away from the computer and get out of your office, building and comfort zone. The beginning of any successful venture is to recognize that the opportunity is there. There are few things more important in life (work, family and friends) than paying genuine attention to what’s going on around you.
Do the work – After you get the idea take logical and practical risks to do something about it. Ideas are usually worthless until they’re put into action through a lot of hard work. In every success story there’s always someone, sometimes many people, who did the work. As Thomas Jefferson said, “I’m a great believer in luck, I find the harder I work the more I have of it”.
Seek out information – The average small business owner gets insulated, which leads to tunnel vision. Success isn’t a solo act; every business success story has multiple characters in it. Steve Jobs was brilliant, hard working and lucky. One of the things he learned to do was to seek out and listen to what people had to say, and then use the information to better his product. He was relentless in his quest to learn more and do better.
There are some things you can’t do anything about – you’re betting on 3 of a kind and your opponent wins with her straight. But, you can increase the chances of winning by knowing your rival’s tells (pay attention), learn the odds, rules and psychology of the game (do the work) and continue to develop your skills (seek out information). Luck is a combination of controllable and uncontrollable actions and events.
