Name: The Click Moment
ISBN: 9781591844938

Frans Johansson

The best-selling author of The Medici Effect shares strategies for maintaining a professional advantage in today's dynamic environments, citing famous examples of innovations, agreements and other strategic turning points that revitalized and advanced high-profile companies.

Seizing Opportunity in an Unpredictable World

The Click Moment

Neil Murray

I found this hard to put down due to the interesting anecdotes that moved the theory of the book along. However, I didn’t give it 5 stars as these anecdotes started to become very repetitive in the second half of the book. Still, I recommend this to anyone who wants to do more thinking about risk, decision making, strategy etc, particularly those looking to take advantage of the randomness in life.

In the story of every great company and career, there is one defining moment when luck and skill collide. This book is about making that moment happen. According to Frans Johansson’s research, successful people and organizations show a common theme. A lucky moment occurs and they take advantage of it to change their fate. Consider how Diane von Furstenberg saw Julie Nixon Eisenhower on TV wearing a matching skirt and top, and created the timeless, elegant wrap-dress. That was a “click moment” of unexpected opportunity. Johansson uses stories from throughout history to illustrate the specific actions we can take to create more click moments, place lots of high-potential bets, open ourselves up to chance encounters, and harness the complex forces of success that follow.

Lance Willett

Review in one sentence: Do something, anything. Get started.

This book is about finding the defining moments where luck and skill collide. Success is random, yet we can take specific actions to capture this in our favor and find these “click moments.”

How to get more of these moments? Get out in the world and do stuff, meet people, and work hard. This will create more chances for random success to happen. But, click moments are not enough. In order to reach the top we must execute our ideas with purposeful bets.

If we wish to increase our chances of reaching greatness we must increase the number of click moments in our life.

One of my favorite tips: Leave some flexibility in your schedule to follow up on a curious idea.

Lessons:

1. The world is unpredictable and changing at a record pace: harness that force.
2. We are truly reluctant to actively court randomness in our lives: create a focused plan with your passion as your guide.
3. We cannot control all of the complex events, but we can recognize when something is moving and events are unfolding: double down on these moments.

Hat tip: Akshay Kapur.

The Click Moment Seizing Opportunity in an Unpredictable World

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