Maximising Serendipity - NLPtCA Conference 2013

Maximising Serendipity

The art of recognising and fostering unexpected potential

A Systemic Approach to Change

James Lawley

NLPtCA Conference, June 2013

Presentation Preamble

Maximising Serendipity: The art of recognising and fostering unexpected potential - A Systemic Approach to Change

It’s clear why researchers, scientists, inventors and entrepreneurs would be interested in serendipity, but why would psychotherapists? When we think of serendipity, the sensational examples catch the eye: vulcanisation, velcro and viagra for instance. Yet there are many more smaller but no less significant instances of serendipity at the personal level. Although the ‘ah-ha’ moments get all the press, they are only a small part of the serendipity process that Penny Tompkins and I mapped into six stages. We regularly see our clients go through a similar process and supporting them to maximise serendipity is one the most important parts of our work.

James Lawley, Maximising Serendipity, NLPtCA Conference 2013

Apelles of Kos (4th century BC)

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kos

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kos


And then what happened?

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invented in 1948 by Swiss electrical engineer

George de Mestral.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_engineer

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_engineer

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_de_Mestral

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_de_Mestral


Where did these come from?

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Charles Goodyear accidentally spilled a rubber mixture on a hot stove and

discovered that heating natural rubber and sulphur

created a durable and flexible material

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What else did he notice?

What’s the connection?

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• Sildenafil citrate, started as UK92480, a new treatment for angina,

• Male patients said it did nothing for their heart but strange things happened in another part of their anatomy ...

• Now we know it as Viagra (Pfizer)

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What is serendipity?

Coined by Horace Walpole in 1754 after reading about the adventures of The Three Princes of Serendip who ‘were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of ...’

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Sagacity = keen mental discernment and good judgment. From Latin sagax, ʻwiseʼ .


And it is not ...

Synchronicity: Two events apparently causally unrelated or unlikely to occur together by chance, yet are experienced as occurring together in a meaningful manner. (Carl Gustav Jung)

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This simple definition compresses several aspects/stages in the

process of serendipity.See slide 14.

or


What kinds of serendipity were involved in the velcro,

vulcanisation and viagra examples?

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Kinds of serendipity Not looking for, yet find an unexpected connection and create something new

Looking for a solution, and stumble upon a new way of doing it

Expecting one thing, and finding something different applies elsewhere

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The Serendipity Process

E+1RecognisePotential

EUnexpected

Event

E-1Prepared

Mind

E+2Seize theMoment

E+3AmplifyEffects

E+4EvaluateEffects

Iterative circularity

!

14


Exercise: When did serendipity happen in your development?

E+1RecognisePotential

E-1Prepared

Mind

E+2Seize theMoment

E+3AmplifyEffects

E+4EvaluateEffects

EUnexpected

Event

!

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Louis Pasteur

“In the fields of observation,

chance favors only the prepared mind.”

Curiosity help too.

E-1 Prepared Mind

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• An event that is unanticipated, anomalous, random etc.

E Unexpected Event!

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• Requires someone to detect or recognise the unexpected event as potentially serendipitous. Detecting ‘potential’ involves an evaluation. Because ‘potential’ has not yet happened it must be a forward-facing evaluation.

• While it is impossible to know in advance the long-term consequences of any event, a person with expertise in noticing serendipity learns to detect a ‘pattern of potential’.

E+1 Recognise Potential

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• Having stumbled on to something, it is essential that the chance event or ‘mistake’ is acted upon.

• Choosing the appropriate action to preserve and amplify the potential, not necessarily the event, is a skill in itself. The action can occur immediately after the recognition of the potentially serendipitous event, or much later.

E+2 Seize the Moment

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• Make friends with the Law of Unintended Consequences:

• It often takes a confluence of effects to turn an event from an interesting anomaly into serendipity — you need to be both in the right place and at the right time.

• Network effects such as amplifying feedback loops and contagions will come into play.

E+3 Amplify Effects

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• E+1 to E+4 often require multiple iterative processes that work from the small to the large scale.

• Many small-scale serendipitous events may be required before a large-scale breakthough occurs.

• Qualities like persistence, determination and sometimes bloody-mindedness are useful

Iterative Circularity

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And the significance for psychotherapists?

If ...

✓ Information is not transformation.

✓ Affect is not effect.

✓ Insight is not foresight.

what are we looking for?

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Isaac Asimov

"The most exciting phrase to hear in science

is not 'Eureka!'

but

'That's funny...'."

E+1 Recognise Potential

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The unexpected will turn up unexpectedly, we don’t need to make it happen.

Surprise is the unexpected knocking to come in.

But opening the door will disturb the equilibrium

Can we accept the invitation even when we may be off-balance?

If our clients and their inner worlds do not continually surprise us, how open are we to changing our minds?

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Exercise: Self-modelling detection signals

• How do you know when there is a ‘potential for change’ moment?

• What lets you know when the client is having a serendipitous moment ?

• How do you know when something small is happening that could have a big effect?

(NB. These are 3 ways of asking the same question)

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Malcolm Gladwell

“Insight is not a lightbulb that goes off inside our heads. It is a flickering candle that can

easily be snuffed out.”

✓ Stay with the moment - extend it

just before

during

just after

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Albert Einstein

"Nothing happens until something moves."

✓ Develop the vector

Amplify effects

Iterate, iterate, iterate

Look for positive feedback loops and contagions.

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I’ll leave you with a final thought:

Learn to distinguish between the sensational and the salient

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Further reading:

http://www.cleanlanguage.co.uk/articles/blogs/85/Maximising-Serendipity-for-Personal-Change.html

http://www.cleanlanguage.co.uk/articles/articles/224/1/Maximising-Serendipity/Page1.html

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Maximising Serendipity - NLPtCA Conference 2013

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