Mary Schmidt Marketing Troubleshooter

I’m a big believer in the harder you work, the better your luck (as Thomas Jefferson pointed out.) There are, of course, cases of pure stupid, “standing in the right place” luck (emphasis on the “stupid”) – reality “stars,” teen singing sensations, etc.

But, here’s the downer – working hard doesn’t guarantee success. You’ve got to have some spark…and some serendipity.

Alas and alack, serendipity doesn’t come in a nice little “No risk guarantee!”  package to your doorstep.

You’ve got to get out there…meet people, make mistakes, possibly look stupid, make wrong decisions…and have the right perspective. You never know what’ll happen when you least expect it; a chance meeting at the coffee shop can lead to big things…

It really can be (almost) all good:

Good thing that we found that bug in the software before we shipped. Serendipity! (With today’s Social Web, a handful of unhappy customers could kill the business…and it got us to thinking about a new feature…)

Good thing the irate customer called our CEO! Serendipity! (We now know about a service problem that could be a great new opportunity!)

Good thing Bob quit the board at the “worst possible moment.” Serendipity! (Burnt-out Bob created an opening for a new, contributing director who brought in more funding.)

Good thing we lost that big deal. Serendipity! (Turns out the client was impossible to please and costs tons of money.  Good lessons learned on better qualifying potential biz.)