Watching Signs Along the Way (with care).

I’m on flight 2609 bound for John Wayne airport headed to a meeting to discuss a possible future of workclubs. The captain has just made the announcement that we will be landing shortly – at GATE 3! What am I to make of this? A pure coincidence with the name I gave to my vision of the future of work? Or a portentious sign that this saga is indeed not yet done.

As I sit here, pondering the demise of Gate 3 WorkClub while sitting on a jet heading for gate 3, the role of serendipity presents me with some hard questions – how much credence to give to these unexpected events and unsought opportunities, and how much to rely purely on rational decision making; the business plan and careful analysis of the possible.

From the beginning, this adventure has been fraught with happenstance and coincidence that I have consciously decided to yield to.

The entire evolution of Gate 3 was the result of a series of cascading serendipitous events – or so it seems in retrospect. Incidental discussion produced ideas that were unexpected; people volunteered to help at critical times; publicity and partners showed up when least expected and most appreciated. What started as a short term expedience grew in scale and vista to become a prototype for a brave new world of work. A beautiful edifice arose and received acclaim and fame.

But a time came when the reverse seemed true – nothing seemed to go right and nothing lined up the way it was expected to. Things fell apart when they were least “supposed” to and eventually, all the signs pointed to what now, in retrospect, seems inevitable. Gate 3 WorkClub had to be shut down.

People keep telling me this is not the end. The question is, what “signs” are there that would point the way to the next incarnation? What is it that this is not the end of? Is my arrival at gate 3 of John Wayne airport a sign?

As a wise person recently said to me; come see me in 20 years time and I’ll let you know.

For now I’ll offer a few guidelines for following signs that appear portentous:

1. Don’t take a coincidence at face value.

2. Inquire into the meaning and insights offered by a serendipitous event (a corrolary to 1).

3. Look for patterns, not single events.

4. Allow chance; contain risk.

5. Keep your ego out of it. Coincidence is not a compliment or overt affirmation of you or your ideas.

6. Things that don’t happen on cue are just as significant as the unexpected.

7. Stay tuned to everything.

Comments

[Liz Becker]

I always say, "If you know your flightplan then you can recognize the difference between the lights on the runway and the lights of an oncoming plane" Stay the course, Neil, as you are redirected to another airport!! And continue to use both the logical and the intuitive controls to get you there. Maybe you are actually going to a bigger Gate 3 than you imagined.

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