Do you feel lucky, punk?
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Which would you say had more overall good luck, normal companies or those that outperformed the normal ones by a factor of 10+?
From hedgehogs to flywheels and more. Shane Parrish’s conversation with Jim Collins is pure fire. Jim is the co-author of Good to Great and Built to Last.
During my 10k run yesterday I kept thinking about Jim’s fascinating research on LUCK. He defined a luck event as something:
- You didn’t cause
- That had a significant impact
- With some element of surprise
He asked Shane which he would say had more overall good luck, normal companies or those that outperformed the normal ones by a factor of 10+.
The answer? Research suggests the overall good luck is the same. If anything it leans slightly towards the normal companies being luckier, but the effect is not strong enough so Jim calls it a wash.
Food for thought! Over a long enough period of time, other companies, other departments and even other people are not luckier than you.
What makes the difference is how you respond to your opportunities and threats, day in and day out. What makes something great? What helps it survive? It’s timeless principles applied consistently.
So luck is not magic, making this quote from 1913 very ironic:
“The more one knows, the luckier he is, for knowledge is the greatest gift in life.” - L. Frank Baum, fantasy author and creator of the World of Oz.