Like my book review on
another book, The Power of Moments,
at first glance – How Luck Happens –Using the Science of Luck to Transform Work, Love, and Life by Janice
Kaplan and Barnaby Marsh, this book doesn’t seem to be a business book. But its subtitle gives it away with the word “work”
in its subtitle.
How does the subject of
luck transform work in this book, you ask?
The answer lies in what we call luck, serendipity, chance, destiny, or
even God in the subject of career moves.
There is no doubt in my
mind, nor anyone else’s mind with any age or experience on them, that luck is
an important component in a career move.
But as the co-authors state luck needs to be married with education,
skills, and talent in order to succeed.
I may meet the Chief of
Surgeons, along with the CEO of the hospital at a local charity event designed
to raise money for the nonprofit hospital, but unless I have the education,
experience, and a medical license, I’m not going to be offered that job I want
as a surgeon at my local hospital. But
if I am an unemployed surgeon that attended this charity event in hopes of
making good contacts that will lead to a job offer, then the authors call that “planned
serendipity.”
Planned serendipity is
you planning to be at the right place, at the right time for the right reason,
with the right education, talent, and experience. (And just to be clear with a
license to practice medicine.)
Now this apparently
random chance 30 years into your future isn’t known to you while you are in
high school, planting the seeds of opportunity by getting good grades so you
can clear an academic scholarship. A
scholarship that will enable you to become that surgeon. So according to the
authors, you should also have a dose of optimism, and the expectation of
continued good luck factored into the equation.
Author Barnaby Marsh, is
an expert on the psychology of risk taking, and states in the book, “Opportunities
are all around you; you just have to learn to see them,” he continues, “There
are ways everyone can make themselves luckier.”
Janice Kaplan, Barnaby’s
co-author, also knows a thing, or two about luck, as a former television
producer, and bestselling author of The Gratitude
Diaries.
In her line of work as a
television producer, she quotes Seneca, the ancient Roman philosopher “Luck is
what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” Ancient wisdom. She gives countless anecdotal examples of
previously unknown television, Broadway, and movie stars being in the right
place, at the right time in order to be “discovered.” But she states before being discovered, you
have to have taken steps to develop that talent, move to Hollywood, or New
York, and get out in public. You have
all heard of the countless examples of waitresses, and waiters being
discovered. Trained actors out in public making a living, expecting to be
discovered. These stories are legendary.
Ms. Kaplan states that the necessary elements are being open to
opportunity, being willing to take risks, optimism, and an ability to think
differently from others.
According to the book,
this works in the dating life as well. I remember as a young teen, Mom always
wanted me to dress well, and put on make-up before I went out as “I might meet
a nice boy, and should make an impression.” Shy, Dad wanted me to open my
mouth, next time I met a nice boy. The authors also give numerous anecdotal examples
of acquaintances who serendipitously met the love of their lives. Looking and
sounding good in public, I might add.
It
might sound like I totally loved the book, but not necessarily, I gave it 3
stars on Amazon. The main issue I have with the book is the words in the
subtitle, “Science of Luck.” There is
very little science in this book. The Scientific
Method was not followed. Asking a question, conductiong background research, constructing a hypothesis, testing a hypothesis by
experimentation, analyzing the data, sharing the results, and drawing the
conclusion.
Scientific Steps in the Scientific Method, not respected.
Their
science consists of anecdotal evidence from acquaintances, historically known
information, and surveys. Surveys which
ask, “Were you lucky when you met this spouse?”
“Were you lucky when you got this job?”
How did they choose the participant for these surveys? How did they test the results? How did they define luck? Where were these surveys published? We don’t
know. The annotations about the surveys were unhelpful, poorly written, very
unclear, and vague.
You
can easily see the holes in those questions.
No matter how serendipity played a role in meeting the participant’s
spouse, if you were in the middle of a nasty divorce at the time the question
was asked the resounding answer would be, “No!!!.” You may have had 25 years of gloriously
faithful wedded bliss, producing 5 children, and 25 grandchildren, but if your
husband had just ran off with his secretary, this would indeed put a damper on
the question.
You
may have experienced an exceptional “discovery.” But the moment the question
survey was asked, you were in a middle of a spiritual mid-life crisis. You may have had many fulfilled years working
as a serious Broadway star, but was fed up with the superficiality, and fame of
stardom, and was planning to run off and become a Buddhist monk in Tibet on
some mountaintop half way across the world.
You answer would also be a resounding, “No. I was not lucky.” Even if your career money, was paying for that
Tibetan trip, and you were renting out your mansion while you were gone.
Surveys
are not really scientific. They are
subjective. The answers depend on the
participants’ beliefs, and moods at the time. They really can’t prove a
thing. Janice Kaplan is an author, and
television producer, not a psychologist, or sociologist, an even a labor
economist. Barnaby Marsh may be working
as a labor economist, but was educated as a biologist. But anecdotal evidence, surveys, ancient
philosophies, and even legends can work as historical empirical evidence.
Instead of the Science of Luck in the subtitle, I would have used the History
of Luck.
Another
issue I have with the authors is how they necessarily define luck. Jesus said, “What
profit is there in this life, if you can gain the whole world, and loose
yourself in the process? Matthew 16:26.
So is Kanye West lucky because he found Jesus, or is it because he married Kim
Kardashian, and became a famous rapper, father, and fashion designer? Or could his luck be because his national
platform can help Kanye spread the Gospel, especially among his famous peers? Perhaps his luck contains all of this?
So
who can benefit from this book? How
about a teen with Hollywood stars in her eyes?
She believes she is entitled to that Hollywood fame without any of the
hard work, and study that goes with it. Luck alone will suffice. Or maybe even a college school quarterback thinking
he has to play for the NFL, and neglects his studies. My former boss, a high school football star
who was injured in his senior year of high school thus losing his athletic scholarship,
considers himself very lucky indeed. He wouldn’t
have met his loving wife, worked in a career he loves with children at a nonprofit
Christian children’s home, and concentrated on his studies, if he went down
that other road. His relationship with others, and His Lord grew out of that
misfortune event.
So
I would highly recommend this book to the young among us. What experience only can buy, this book may
just open the eyes to what youth lacks. So parents get this book for your high
school, and college senior.
For
adults, this is a book to see your life steps differently, and to be more
grateful for the twists, and turns you took along the way to get to where you
are now. To be more grateful for the
chance meetings, and serendipitous opportunities that God gave you along the
way. Gratitude is what Janice Kaplan, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Gratitude Diaries emphasizes in the
book, How Luck Happens – Using the
Science of Luck to Transform Work, Love, and Life. No wonder it seems almost like a sequel to
her book entitled, The Gratitude Diaries.
And she used her friend, co-author, and business associate, Barnaby Marsh, who, by the way, she had met serendipitously, to help her spread her message about how
good luck happens along life’s highways, and how to be grateful for those
happenings. I think I was lucky to have found this book in my local library. Checked it out, and read it for free. Not
sure I would have paid for it however. At my age, I already had learned the
life lessons this book espoused. The hard way. I lived it.
