How Business Owners Create
Their Own Good Luck
To get the results you want, you need to write
your own rules of good luck
By Alex Rovira and Fernando Trias de Bes
We once heard a mathematics professor state, "The parameters of luck are
unknown to us." In other words, luck can't be explained by any specific factor;
it's a matter of chance. We thought the statement made a lot of sense, but we
were intrigued by the notion that what we call "luck" could be explained by a
set of variables or elements that had not yet been studied. So we carried out
our own research.
We spoke with people who thought their lives had been blessed by good fortune
to try and figure out what factors they had in common. After four years of
research, we could clearly identify a list of five principles for good luck.
What our research revealed can be summarized in a single simple sentence: In
business, we make our own good luck.
What do these creators of good luck have in common? How can business owners
make their own good luck? The principles are summarized below:
1. Responsibility
Business owners who feel that they have had good luck also feel responsible for
their own actions. When things go wrong or the outcome of any given situation is
other than intended, they never point the finger of blame at external factors or
other individuals. Instead, they look to themselves and ask, "What have I done
for this to occur?" Then they act accordingly to solve the problem.
2. Learning from Mistakes
Creators of good luck don't see a mistake as a failure. Instead, a mistake is an
opportunity for learning. Thomas Edison is the classic example. More than 1,000
attempts to invent the first long-lasting electric light bulb led to bulbs that
only stayed lit for a few minutes.
One of Edison's colleagues asked him, "Mr. Edison, don't you feel you are a
failure?" Lacking any sense of vanity, he answered, "Not at all. Now, I
definitely know more than a thousand ways how NOT to make a light bulb."
Sure enough, just a few days later, he turned his inspiration into a
practical concept. By the way, the very first light bulb was invented by Sir
Joseph Wilson Swan, who demonstrated the theoretical concept but gave up trying
to develop a practical application after only three attempts. By contrast,
Edison made his own good luck and designed a working light bulb.
3. Perseverance
Creators of good luck don't give up or postpone. When a problem or situation
arises, they act immediately to either solve it without delay, delegate, or
forget about it.
These business people don't carry a list of "things to do" in their brain.
Instead, they resolve problems and situations as quickly as possible. This
enables their energy to be fully focused on their work and avoid conscious or
unconscious distractions, which only generate inefficiency.
4. Confidence
The most powerful principle is often the most overlooked. Confidence is divided
into two parts: confidence in yourself and confidence in others.
Confidence in yourself is essential, and those who create their own good luck
have high degrees of assertiveness and self-esteem. They keep to their purpose,
persevere, and work to create the conditions that ultimately help them achieve
success. Also, they are great visualizers. They use their imaginations --
specifically, their visualizing techniques -- to form mental images of their
goals.
Closely linked to assertiveness and self-esteem is trust in others and
respect for them, seeing other people as major sources of opportunity. This
doesn't mean that one must be naive and trust just anyone. Instead, it speaks to
the trait of seeing others as sources of opportunity for achievement.
Without confidence there is no way to "give yourself" to the situation. If
there is no intimacy -- if it is ruled out by paranoia or rampant suspicion, for
example -- there can be no opening up to others. Hence, there can be no room for
dialogue or for the genuine and sincere exchange of opinions. Without this, any
initiative proceeds more slowly until, eventually, it simply withers and dies.
5. Cooperation
Synergy is key. Trust in others leads to solid a network of work colleagues and
friends, which, in turn, provides more resources to carry out projects than if
they were managed alone. Think cooperation rather than competitiveness. At the
most basic level, any project or undertaking takes place in the context of the
broader group, and everyone should have the chance to emerge a winner.
As we have seen, whether or not one can create good luck basically depends on
an attitude towards oneself, towards others, and towards life. It is also tied
to the perception that the individual is much more of a cause than an effect.
And above all, to the realization that one must make oneself the creator of the
conditions that foster success and the achievement of specific, visualized
goals.
We think of luck -- the sort that wins lotteries -- as random. It can be
favorable or not, but it is always occasional, brief, and impermanent. We have
found that of the people who have won big sweepstakes prizes, many lose
everything they gained, typically within four years to seven years of hitting
the jackpot. Furthermore, their personal relationships with family, friends, and
colleagues often suffer.
On the other hand, since those who create their own good luck owe success
only to themselves and their own initiatives, not just to a random roll of the
dice, they are acutely aware of the origins of their good fortune. Moreover,
having seen it work before, they know how to repeat it.
The problem is that we often seem to forget old principles based on common
sense, which basically say that we must work, be aware of our actions, and take
responsibility for correcting them when the need arises. The person who grasps
that wisdom is lucky indeed.
Alex Rovira and Fernando Trias de Bes are professors at
Spanish B-school ESADE and authors of the book,
Good Luck: Create the Conditions
for Success in Life & Business, which has sold nearly 1 million copies worldwide
since it was introduced in February, 2004. Both are partners at market research
firm Salvetti & Llombart in Barcelona, Spain. Fernando Trias de Bes also
co-authored Lateral Marketing with Philip Kotler (Wiley: 2003). For more
information see
http://www.goodluckthebook.com
|
