Hooray!
Can You Learn to Be Lucky? was just named one of Fast Company‘s Best Business Books of 2018!
Here’s a secret: even though it’s published by Portfolio, Penguin’s business imprint, I don’t really think of it as a business book. Most of the information pertaining specifically to organizations was cut from the final draft. The book is about social decision-making and how to be chosen by others, how random these decisions or factors influencing outcomes can be, and how to thrive despite this inherent randomness.
In hindsight, I wish I would have dedicated more pages to the importance of diversification. In every aspect of life that contains inherent uncertainties, the more baskets you can put your eggs in, the better: investing, work projects/companies, income/having clients, building relationships, mastering skills. Anything that is singular is fragile.
The process of publishing the book itself also taught me a lot about luck and randomness. I’ll be putting all of these lessons to use when the paperback comes out.