In the field of observation, chance favors only the prepared mind.

Louis Pasteur (1822 - 1895)

This quote from the great french scientist Louis Pasteur reminded me of one of they keys in solutions focus: the future perfect and the power of chance. By imagining, as clear as possible, how you would like a prefered future to look like, you prepare yourself to take advantage of all the chance happenings that will inevitably occur. How is that? Well, if you know what you’d like to see happening, you will prime your observational skills and notice things you wouldn’t notice otherwise.

In december I noticed that my 3 year old son was doing some odd things while we were shopping. He constantly put red, shiny objects in the shopping basket. I realized that he had a particular future in mind that made him aware of any red, shiny object that came into his way. This future image, or prospective memory, was of course christmas. This prospective memory made him notice things he wouldn’t have noticed otherwise.

It is easy to see how this is useful in an organisation. Work not only with goals but also with “the other side of the goal”: the solution pattern. The solution patterns is what goal-achievement looks like: what happens when the goal is met, what will be different, how will people behave differently, what will the effects be, and so on. This will prepare you to notice and take advantage of any chance event that may happen. This is quite consistent with findings by Brittish psychologist Richard Wiseman, who studied the habits of lucky people. A couple of “luck-enhancing” behaviors were: notice lucky incidents and create self-fulfilling prophesis. A succesful leader not only controls the controlable, but also -by preparing the mind- has some control over change, the seemingly un-controlable. For the swedish speaker who wants more ideas on luck, take a look at my video-blog on luck here