Firing up your serendipity engine

On creating the conditions for sparks to fly

Discovering your favourite artist. Reading a book that changes your life. Meeting your life partner. Having a 10/10 night out. Working on your favourite ever project. Joining a community of people that get it.

These aren't things you can explicitly plan for. There's no ten-step method or foolproof algorithm for creating this kind of magic. Instead, they're born from something way more nebulous and wonderful: serendipity. Those sliding doors moments. Right place, right time. Sparks flying kind of outcomes.

Lately, it feels like we're collectively remembering the power of unexpected moments. As we Cal Newport our lives and look up from the endless scroll we’re remembering that cool shit happens when you're out and about in the world, meeting people who are doing interesting things and sharing ideas. Groundbreaking I KNOW!

If you’ve ever taken an un-awkward selfie on the tube, how? Anyway it’s nice to leave the house sometimes

Queen of inboxes

Emily Sundberg

, writer of Feed Me, summed this up perfectly in a recent interview on The Grill Room.

"What's worked really well for me is leaving my house and taking advantage of the city that I live in and then writing about it."

Doing things, meeting people, and going places are the inputs that shape our creative outputs. That is kind of it.

Strategist Zoe Scaman articulated this beautifully when we recently spoke for a Broken Growth Q+A.

"Creativity isn't something that happens in a vacuum. It's an emergent property of connection, curiosity, and cross-pollination."

To spark serendipity in her work, Zoe structures her week with "intentional friction points" and leaves space for surprise. Following random rabbit holes. Letting spontaneous ideas hijack a project.

Last weekend I read Citizens about the shift from consumer to citizen society. Author Jon Alexander shared the story of Immy Kaur, who created the UK's first Impact Hub in Birmingham. Beyond just a co-working space, it was a deliberate experiment in fostering unexpected connections between social entrepreneurs. Immy and collaborators describe the hub as a "serendipity engine," a place where people could share skills, spark ideas, and generate collaborative initiatives.

I'm obsessed with this concept of a serendipity engine. I've spent my career helping businesses chase growth by narrowing in on a rigid set of metrics - increase LTV, increase conversion rate, reduce churn - but so much of the most interesting growth happens in the spaces between these numbers.

This got me wondering what it would look like to fire up our own serendipity engines. To embrace and increase the chances of those magic moments and unforeseen outcomes happening.

This could look like:

• Connecting other people systematically

• Sharing your ideas with the world systematically

• Diversifying your inputs - books, magazines, films, places, people

• Organising shared experiences with people you don't know that well

• Reframing your knowledge as a gift to share, not a commodity to hoard

• Holding space for the unexpected - stop time-blocking every minute

• Following the glimmers: the paths, people, and projects that light you up

• Reciprocating invites with invites - everyone can be a host

I see these as ongoing active practices. Staying open, curious, and generous. Creating the conditions where sparks could fly.

I turned 33 this week. My one intention for my 34th year is to go somewhere new every week. Could be to work, could be to play, just somewhere my eyes haven’t seen before. A tiny personal move that could spark endless outcomes. Let’s see what unfolds.

I’d love to hear your serendipity engine ideas below.

Chat soon!

Matilda

---

I’m currently booking in new projects for May and June so here’s a reminder of how we can work together :) ⛅

1. The Anti Social Growth Audit - Get total clarity on what success looks like to you today, where to focus your efforts beyond social media, and the POV and conversations that will attract your dream customers and collaborators.

2. 1:1 Strategy Session - A 60-minute strategy session to give you clarity on how to grow the business you want to have.