Serendipity - value creation based on unexpected encounters - is a new trend in the world of business.
As I stroll through life, I look into the eyes of strangers and I ask myself how to convert a stranger into a friend, how to challenge that paradigm - "don´t talk to strangers", how to unleash my curiosity and desire for discovery. SERENDIPITY has become an integral part of my day - SERENDIPITY not just as the happy accident, but as an intentioned happy accident, a directed happy accident, a strategic happy accident.
We first met when I agreed to be a "buddy" for a cohort of interns to Nesta. I walked this group of able, enthusiastic people around the teams here and asked them to introduce themselves. It was fun listening to them explain who they were and why they were here and how the story sometimes changed according to the responses of the people they were meeting.
There has been an overwhelming response to my last blog post about Nesta's Randomised Coffee Trials, with responses received from various countries, UK government bodies, multilateral organisations, academics, NGOs, small companies and multinational companies.
Two and half years ago, Nesta had the privilege to work with two of the most outstanding figures in the UK's creative industries, Alex Hope of Double Negative studios and Ian Livingstone of Eidos. We'd been asked by the Government to look at what could be done to make sure the UK had the skills it needed to maintain its world-class visual FX and video games industries. These were industries that Ian and Alex knew better than most, since they'd played a central role in building them.
My colleague Hasan Bakhshi has just published a brilliant analysis of the creative economy in the UK. Written with Alan Freeman and Peter Higgs, this is the first time I have seen a seriously rigorous approach to creative industries and creative roles.
Over at Marginal Revolution, the economist Tyler Cowen proposes an interesting intellectual parlour-game*. If you could travel to some distant point in the past, say 1500AD, what could you do to improve the future and help people living in 2013?
A fascinating report out today on the nation's values, corroborates some trends which have been visible for a long time.
I'm becoming ever more sceptical about the continued spread of the phrases 'Bottom of the Pyramid' and 'Base of the Pyramid', and whether they are either meaningful or useful. Here are some comments to prompt debate (I'd quite like to be proven wrong on this).
Last week's broadcast of Generations Apart on BBC Radio 4 highlights the challenges young people face finding work in today's labour market in comparison to those starting careers in the 1960s.
![Twitter icon [original]](http://admin.nesta.org.uk/library/images/Twitter-button_34x35.jpg "Twitter icon [original]"){kind=small}
Follow our daily updates on Twitter @nesta_uk
![Linked in icon [original]](http://admin.nesta.org.uk/library/images/LinkedIn_button_34x35.jpg "Linked in icon [original]"){kind=small}
Take part in the discussion on our LinkedIn group
![Facebook icon [original]](http://admin.nesta.org.uk/library/images/facebook.jpg "Facebook icon [original]"){kind=small}
Share your views on our Facebook page
Sign up for our regular updates for the latest news and opportunities.
T +44 (0)20 7438 2500
F +44 (0)20 7438 2501
Nesta Operating Company, a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales with company number 7706036 and charity number 1144091. Registered as a charity in Scotland number SC042833.
