Week 395 (brendan@brendanbarca.com)

Here's your weekly dose of Fuel Your Mind Friday where I share business building ideas, lifestyle design hacks, and inspirational content to help you thrive in your work and find purpose in your life.

---

PSA: My wife, Pema Sherpa, and I have another blog called The Mindful Minute! Check it out.

---

​

RETURN ON LUCK - WHAT IT IS AND HOW TO TAKE ADVANTAGE

​

When we think of generating success, whether it be towards our marketing efforts or sales goals, we often think in terms of ROI (Return On Investment). We want every investment of time and money we make to equate to a high percentage of return. If we hire a marketing agency for $80K, we want that agency to produce a higher amount of value than the $80K we invested. If we hire three salespeople at $100K each, we want each of those people to drive results that surpass their salary and commission.

While monitoring your ROI is an important metric in business, there is another variable, developed by author and business strategist Jim Collins, which we often overlook; ROL (Return On Luck). In Jim Collins' book, Great by Choice, Jim studies why some companies and individuals thrive amid chaos and uncertainty while others do not. One of his key findings, that separates the good from the great, is their ROL (Return On Luck).

What Jim and his research team found is that while all companies and people get hit with the occasional stroke of good luck, there is a huge swing variable between those who get a high return on luck and those who squander it. And over time, the compound effect of those who consistently get a good ROL makes a huge difference in their success.

One of the individuals Jim examines in his book is billionaire businessman Bill Gates. Gates certainly experienced a great amount of luck in his early life, being born in America to an upper-middle class family and getting access to a computer at a young age, but we must not overlook how Gates took advantage of his luck. He was not the only person in his era to be born to an upper-middle class family in America. He was not the only person to get early access to a computer. There were thousands of others across America who had this opportunity.

But, it's what Gates did with his good luck that set him on his path to greatness. Gates, recognizing the opportunity in computers, defied his parents, dropped out of Harvard and moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico to pursue his dream of getting into the software computing business. From there, Gates worked tirelessly as he ascended to the top of his industry, eventually founding and running Microsoft.

Another example of the effects of ROL can be seen with the onset of the pandemic in 2020 when the world moved virtual. When that happened, it was an amazing stroke of good luck for video conferencing companies such as Cisco Webex and Zoom. However, both companies did not perform the same, despite both getting the same lucky break. From April, 2020 to April 2021, Zooms stock price jumped 175%, while Cisco only went up 24%. In fact, Cisco's video-conferencing revenue actualy DROPPED 4% in 2020. Here is an example of two competitors, both receiving a great deal of luck, but with extremely different results.

So, while it's apparent that ROL can be a big factor in a person or a company's success, you may be wondering, how do you get a high Return On Luck? Here are the four strategies Jim Collins gives in his book:

1. View life as a flow of luck events
2. Prepare for inevitable bad luck events
3. Spot good luck events when they come
4. Execute brilliantly on good luck events

Whether you are an employee looking to climb the corporate ladder or a business person trying to make the next great company, these four ROL strategies will be critical for your success. You need to be prepared to minimize damage when bad luck comes and be prepared to double down when you get a stroke of luck.

Start viewing your career and life as a flow of different types of luck. This will help you identify when good and bad luck hits you, and then you can determine what to do about it.

What will you do with the luck you get?

​
​

---

Thanks for subscribing,

- Brendan

​Let's connect on LinkedIn!

​brendanbarca.com​

​

Don't miss our newest creation, The Mindful Minute -> ​Check it out here!