What do you do to unlock serendipity in your work?
Alexandra Howson PhD, CHCP, FACEhp, E-RYT
Author of the WriteCME Roadmap | I help medical writers launch and grow a sustainable CME writing business with the ROADMAP framework
The Serendipity of Rabbit?Holes?
Last month I wrote a piece on burrowing into the rabbit hole of ideas, snippets, nuggets, and all things unexpected.?
Lots of you resonated with this delightful — and I’d argue, necessary — practice for anyone engaged in the business and practice of research, whether it is in continuing medical education (CME) or some other field.
In no small part, the power of rabbit holes lies in its unearthing of unexpected, unplanned, and valuable discoveries. We can also know the practice of allowing space for rabbit holes as the practice of mind wandering and creating the conditions for serendipity.
The phenomenon of serendipity — a word first documented in 1754 — has been the driving force in many medical discoveries, such as penicillin, the polio vaccine, salvarsan, and even Viagra.
Serendipity isn’t chance, luck, or coincidence. Christian Busch defines serendipity as a “surprising discovery that results from unplanned moments in which our decisions and actions lead to valuable outcomes.” Serendipity practice involves active observation, being primed for curiosity, and being sensitive to context. It also requires tools to make and categorize links between ideas.
We can foster serendipity in lots of different ways and probably need to do so more than ever, in an age of artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithmic, predictive process. As Benjamin Wolff writes in Forbes, AI isn’t good at noticing “when an object doesn’t fit or when a scene is unusual in an interesting way.” In contrast, we humans notice context, are aware when something seems out of place, and have a thirst for discovery that tugs us to follow the rabbit hole.
5 Ways to Foster Serendipity
Here are 5 ways to foster serendipity in your work, inspired by a recent article in the Journal of Creativity.
Now I record any thoughts that emerge when my mind is calm in Apple Notes and tag them according to the taxonomy that makes sense for me and the way I work.
3. Be curious. Many of you who responded to my rabbit hole article, podcast, and social posts emphasized the word curious as a key that unlocks the door to serendipity. Serendipity researchers (yes, they exist) similarly emphasize how keeping an open mind, being flexible, and being persistent are equally important for a serendipity practice. Combine these characteristics with AI tools to engineer chance encounters between different ideas in unanticipated places.
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4. Do the nonobvious. Do the thing that feels like it’ll take you down a rabbit hole. That seemingly innocuous footnote in a paper on BTK inhibitors? Follow it up and see where it leads. The conversation with your mother about her atrial fibrillation? Explore it for insights into the lived experience of cardiac arrhythmia. The webinar on mindfulness? Attend without guilt and dissolve your self-imposed information boundaries.
5. Think laterally. In order to make connections between seemingly disconnected ideas we need some practice or system for confluence. Lots of tools can work here to create confluence, support diffuse/divergent thinking, or to provide a recommender system. A recommender system is something like Spotify. You’re listening to the Blue Nile, perhaps you’d like David Sylvian too (yes, you get me, my musical choices are locked into the 1980s!).
Recommender Systems
Here are some diffuse thinking/recommender systems or ideas to support your serendipitous adventures.
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Freelance Medical Writer | Meticulous, insightful, and dependable veterinary and medical content to inform, educate, and inspire your audiences.
1 年Love the idea of serendipity Alexandra Howson PhD. My mind kind of already works that way and instead of seeing it as a hinderance and constantly trying to force a more structured thinking style, I can relax into the chaos a little. As this article notes, that's where some of the best connections and insights may live. Letting go into that framework is scary but allowing myself to move through it is rewarding.