This collection of blogs describes what Nesta's Randomised Coffee Trials - a weekly random matching of staff - is all about, how the idea was developed and the subsequent impact it has had both in and outside of the organisation. There are also several guest posts on the notion of serendipity in organisations and its influence on innovation.
![Nesta RCT infographic [original] Nesta RCT infographic [original]](http://admin.nesta.org.uk/library/images/nesta_rct_twitter_1.1.jpg)
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.
31.01.2013We 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.
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.
Serendipity - value creation based on unexpected encounters - is a new trend in the world of business.
31.01.2013Inspired by Pedro Medina's discussion of serendipity*, Nesta's Randomised Coffee Trials (RCT) initiative responds to Pedro's dual challenge of appreciating the benefits of serendipity and the need to 'build new fishing systems**.
21.01.2013Click here to subscribe to the Institutionalising serendipity: Randomised Coffee Trials