Seizing novel opportunities? Are you navigating sentimentally into the changing winds? With a “mindful Heart”, like the mythical Prince of Serendip?

1. 2014 National AMCOR-EBRD Conference, Bucharest, RomaniaJune 2nd 2015 Conference Speech “Your Ithaca”, Kiev, Ukraine
Seizing Novel Opportunities
Like a Prince of Serendip
Being Serendipitous

2. 2014 National AMCOR-EBRD Conference, Bucharest, RomaniaJune 2nd 2015 Conference Speech “Your Ithaca”, Kiev, Ukraine
Navigate sentimentally into the changing winds
With a “mindful Heart”

3. 2014 National AMCOR-EBRD Conference, Bucharest, RomaniaJune 2nd 2015 Conference Speech “Your Ithaca”, Kiev, Ukraine
A 'silly’ Fairy Tale?
- Have you seen my camel?
- Blind in the right eye?
- Lacks a tooth?
- Lame and crippling?
- Carrying butter on one side?
- And honey on the other side?
- Yes! Yes!! Yes!!! Where is she?
- What have you done to her?
Emperor Behram of Serendip sends his three sons
(three princes) traveling to discover the world.
Along the way, they meet a camel driver.

4. 2014 National AMCOR-EBRD Conference, Bucharest, RomaniaJune 2nd 2015 Conference Speech “Your Ithaca”, Kiev, Ukraine
A 'silly’ Fairy Tale? Not at all
Camel driver takes them to Court and Emperor to judge
After providing explanations, they get acquitted
- Grass cropped only on left side of road
- Blind in the right eye?
- Bits of chewed grass scattered across the road
- Lacks a tooth?
- Footprints of one foot dragging
- Lame and crippling?
- Ants on one side of road
- Carrying butter on one side?
- Flies on the other side of the road
- And honey on the other side?

5. 2014 National AMCOR-EBRD Conference, Bucharest, RomaniaJune 2nd 2015 Conference Speech “Your Ithaca”, Kiev, Ukraine
Serendipity: Accidents & Sagacity
Ideas
Objects
Intuitions
Knowledge
fragments
Experience
Expertise
Craftsmanship
ACCIDENTS
Multiple
Encounters
SAGACITY
Creative
Act

6. 2014 National AMCOR-EBRD Conference, Bucharest, RomaniaJune 2nd 2015 Conference Speech “Your Ithaca”, Kiev, Ukraine
Known Serendipitous Discoveries
- Forgot one of the petri dishes on the shelf
- mold contaminated the bacteria he was studying
- Realized that the mold killed the bacteria
- Understood he had stumbled into a breakthrough – new antibiotic

7. 2014 National AMCOR-EBRD Conference, Bucharest, RomaniaJune 2nd 2015 Conference Speech “Your Ithaca”, Kiev, Ukraine
Known Serendipitous Discoveries
Minoxidil
Developed to treat high-blood pressure,
but prescribed against hair loss.
Aspirin
Intended as an anti-inflammatory but
widely used as a preventative measure
against heart attacks

8. 2014 National AMCOR-EBRD Conference, Bucharest, RomaniaJune 2nd 2015 Conference Speech “Your Ithaca”, Kiev, Ukraine
Known Serendipitous Discoveries – Guess!
Originally patented (in 1886)
for medicinal purposes, as a
nerve and tonic stimulant,
and a cure for headaches.

9. 2014 National AMCOR-EBRD Conference, Bucharest, RomaniaJune 2nd 2015 Conference Speech “Your Ithaca”, Kiev, Ukraine
Known Serendipitous Discoveries – Guess!
Mid-eighties
• Pfizer begins a research program into angina
• (disabling heart condition from insufficient supply of oxygen to heart)
• An active chemical compound was isolated (sildenafil citrate)
• Commenced clinical trials and trial results proved disappointing
• But, some ‘accidental’ side effects in toxicity trials
• So, Pfizer decided to commit another $340 million to the project
• Repeating Phase II clinical trials using impotent men as a target group
• The drug’s effectiveness was, this time, beyond doubt.
• The Food and Drug Administration approved ___ in March 1998.
• Net present value over $6 billion
• What was the Drug? Guess!

10. 2014 National AMCOR-EBRD Conference, Bucharest, RomaniaJune 2nd 2015 Conference Speech “Your Ithaca”, Kiev, Ukraine
Process of Serendipity by Lawley &Tompkins (2008)
Serendipity: How It Works

11. 2014 National AMCOR-EBRD Conference, Bucharest, RomaniaJune 2nd 2015 Conference Speech “Your Ithaca”, Kiev, Ukraine
Serendipity: How It Works
Search
ContingencyPrior
Knowledge
Serendipitous
Discovery
Serendipity in Opportunity Discovery (Dew, 2009)
Systematic
Exploration
Pre-Discovery
Spontaneous
Recognition

12. 2014 National AMCOR-EBRD Conference, Bucharest, RomaniaJune 2nd 2015 Conference Speech “Your Ithaca”, Kiev, Ukraine
1 Searching for Differentiation,
but gaining Certification
2 Probing for Renewal & Recertification,
but ending Serving
3 Solely Serving,
but also receiving Leads
4 Attending Conferences,
but also invited for Speaking
5 Speaking at Conferences,
but also invited for Training
Professional Serendipity Cases in Point
A Landscape of Serendipitous Potential