March Read/6

Title: The Click Moment: Seizing the Opportunity in an Unpredictable World

Author: Johansson, Frans

Call Number: 650.1 J65C 2012

Subjects: Success in Business;  Success; Opportunism (Psychology)

Number of Pages: 246

ISBN: 9781591844938

Book Description (from the front & back flap):

            The Click Moment is about two very simple but highly provocative ideas. The first is that success is random-far more random than we would like to believe. The second is that there are a number of specific actions that we, as individuals and organizations, can take to capture this randomness and focus it in our favor.

            According to Johansson, strategy, planning, and careful analysis can no longer guarantee strong performance; today’s business environments are far too random and complicated. But when you dig deep into the actions of successful people and organizations, you’ll find one common theme. A turning point occurs-a major client signs on, a new competitor redefines the market, an unlikely idea surfaces- and they take advantage of that serendipity to change their fate. Consider how…

-Diane Von Furstenberg saw Julie Nixon Eisenhower on TV wearing a matching skirt and top, and the timeless, elegant wrapdress was born.

-Microsoft Windows was on the brink of being shut down until two individuals met unexpectedly at a party and altered the fate of the world’s dominant computer operating system.

-Starbucks sold high-end brewing equipment and coffee by the pound until Howard Schultz experienced his first latte in a café in Milan.

-Nike was stumped on how to invent a spikeless trainer when a legendary running coach poured latex on a waffle iron.

            Each of these individuals experiences a “click moment”-a rare point of opportunity that was completely unexpected. But they capitalized on their luck in ways that paid off significantly and altered their organizations’ strategies and the course of their lives.

Johansson uses stories of successful people and companies throughout history to illustrate the specific actions we cant 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.

My Read:

            According to the author, the click moment comes from 1) randomness, 2) serendipity, and 3) luck. After I read the book, it is obvious to me that the click moment or I sometimes call it “WOW” composes of three factors: Heavenly Time, Earthly Advantage, and Human Harmony. In Chinese it reads: 天時 地利 人和. You and your mindset encounter something at the right moment, at the right place, and to the right person/people. It implies that one is able to connect the dots at the right way.

            One of the examples the author presents is the release of the Window 3.0. Two men met at a party held by Microsoft. One, Dave Weise, an engineer at Microsoft who owns a physics PhD and the other, Murray Sargent, a professor of optics at the University of Arizona who in his spare time had developed a program called an SST debugger. The conversation they had at the night they met each other started as “Windows…is a joke.” At the time Microsoft had technical difficult fixing the Windows operating system’s memory issue. They figured it out that if they could get Windows into protected mode then they could blow away the 640K RAM barrier. Instead of waiting for another day they took action right away. And the most explosive product Microsoft had ever produced was introduced (page107 –page 109). Two people met each other at the right place and at the right time. Click.

            Even though the author lists randomness as one of the 3 elements for click moment success and innovative creation are for those who work hard and are prepared. Without timely efforts and the conscientious mindset and attitude one wouldn’t have the opportunity to sense any openness for the click moment. “She broke all the rules, in a sense, because she didn’t consider them” (page 57) Here the statement refers to the author, Stephenie Meyer, of the Twilight series. This reminds me of a concept from another book about when everyone goes in one direction one should look at the opposite to discover opportunity. Serendipity comes when one looks at different directions or angles to find out new things, ideas, or openness for success.

            The author also states the role luck plays for the click moment. Sometimes one has to make purposeful bets to find luck and use passion as fuel in the process. “If you are driven by an intrinsic motivation such as passion, you have a better chance of producing creative work than if you are driven by external factors.” (page 169) This reminds me of the important role the passion plays in a person’s life, especially at the workplace. Passion a person owns drives a person to places no monetary currency could buy. Sense of achievement comes from the work of a person’s 1) hand (skills), head ( reasoning, problem solving, etc), and heart (passion and compassion).

            Click. Click. Click. But, are you ready?