Christian Busch

Christian Busch

Los Angeles, California, United States
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About

Prof. Christian Busch, PhD, is the bestselling author of The Serendipity Mindset /…

Articles by Christian

  • CONNECT THE DOTS
    Oct 23, 2024

    CONNECT THE DOTS

    Welcome to the latest edition of the “Connect the Dots” newsletter! In this edition, you’ll find: a Strategic…

    5 Comments
  • Mintzberg x Serendipity x USC
    Aug 1, 2023

    Mintzberg x Serendipity x USC

    Dear friends and colleagues, I’m writing to share some updates regarding upcoming events, personal news, and of course,…

    23 Comments
  • Connecting the Dots
    Feb 28, 2023

    Connecting the Dots

    Dear friends and colleagues, I’m delighted to share another “Connect the Dots” newsletter with you. This edition’s…

    13 Comments
  • Connecting the Dots
    Jan 20, 2022

    Connecting the Dots

    In line with my new book Connect the Dots: The Art & Science of Creating Good Luck (extended international paperback…

    61 Comments
  • From near-death to (re-)birth
    Jan 13, 2022

    From near-death to (re-)birth

    [Excerpt from: Connect the Dots: The Art & Science of Creating Good Luck] Lexi Montée spent the spring of 2020 going…

    9 Comments
  • 5 Steps to Kickstart a Serendipitous & Meaningful 2021
    Jan 14, 2021

    5 Steps to Kickstart a Serendipitous & Meaningful 2021

    This year, more than ever, the unforeseen will shape much of our future, and challenges and opportunities will emerge…

    14 Comments
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Activity

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Experience

  • Penguin Random House Graphic

    Penguin Random House

    Los Angeles, California, United States

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    Los Angeles, California, United States

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    Global

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    London

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    London, Zurich

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Education

  • The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) Graphic

    London School of Economics and Political Science

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    Activities and Societies: 'Best Paper Award Social Entrepreneurship'​ (Academy of Management); Founder: LSE PhD Steering Committee

    Research & teaching: business model innovation; social innovation; social networks; entrepreneurship, mission-driven organizations.

    Committee: Gerry George (Editor, Academy of Management Journal), Sarah Ashwin (Head, LSE Department of Management), Harry Barkema (Founding Director, ICCLab, LSE).

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    Activities and Societies: President LSE CSR Society

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Publications

  • Towards a Theory of Serendipity: A Systematic Review and Conceptualization

    Journal of Management Studies

    Serendipity – the notion of making surprising and valuable discoveries – plays a major role in the success of individuals and organizations alike. Previous research has established the importance of serendipity and identified important individual- and organizational-level antecedents. However, the literature has been dispersed and the boundaries of the concept have been blurry, leading to a lack of conceptual clarity and structure, and thus limiting validity and managerial actionability. Based…

    Serendipity – the notion of making surprising and valuable discoveries – plays a major role in the success of individuals and organizations alike. Previous research has established the importance of serendipity and identified important individual- and organizational-level antecedents. However, the literature has been dispersed and the boundaries of the concept have been blurry, leading to a lack of conceptual clarity and structure, and thus limiting validity and managerial actionability. Based on a systematic literature review, I synthesize existing management-related research on serendipity and explicate the emergence and composition of serendipity in the organizational context. I first identify three necessary conditions that differentiate serendipity from related concepts such as luck or targeted innovation: agency, surprise, and value. Then, I draw from the literature on sensemaking, event-based theorizing, and quantum-based approaches to management to conceptualize the process of cultivating serendipity in the organizational context as a process of enabling potentiality and materialization, and develop a multi-level theory of (cultivating) serendipity. This conceptualization contributes to our collective understanding of how, why, and when (i.e., under what conditions) organizations can leverage the value in the unexpected, which opens up fruitful avenues for further research.

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  • Asserting and transcending ethnic homophily: How entrepreneurs develop social ties to access resources and opportunities in socially contested environments

    Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal

    In socially contested settings, it is often difficult to connect with (diverse) others, and it is unclear how entrepreneurs in these contexts may develop the social ties that previous research has shown to be valuable. We studied this subject matter in Kenya, an ethnically fractionalized society that recently experienced the decentralization of government, which required entrepreneurs to deal with both in-group and out-group ethnicities. We conducted an inductive case study of four…

    In socially contested settings, it is often difficult to connect with (diverse) others, and it is unclear how entrepreneurs in these contexts may develop the social ties that previous research has shown to be valuable. We studied this subject matter in Kenya, an ethnically fractionalized society that recently experienced the decentralization of government, which required entrepreneurs to deal with both in-group and out-group ethnicities. We conducted an inductive case study of four Nairobi-based companies and captured the creative tactics that they used to transcend ethnic homophily (by defocusing from ethnicity and reframing the in-group) while also asserting ethnic homophily (by signaling tribal affiliation and leveraging others' ethnicity). We contribute to a deeper understanding of how and why entrepreneurs in socially contested settings develop social ties.

    Other authors
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  • Align or perish: Social enterprise network orchestration in Sub-Saharan Africa

    Journal of Business Venturing

    Previous research has shown that networks are vital for scaling the impact of social enterprises. However, at present, insight into how and why social enterprises successfully orchestrate networks over time as they scale, particularly in the Sub-Saharan African emerging economy context, is scant. Theoretically sensitized by social network theory, our inductive study of six Kenyan social enterprises analyzed their phase-contingent network orchestration. Our findings show how and why…

    Previous research has shown that networks are vital for scaling the impact of social enterprises. However, at present, insight into how and why social enterprises successfully orchestrate networks over time as they scale, particularly in the Sub-Saharan African emerging economy context, is scant. Theoretically sensitized by social network theory, our inductive study of six Kenyan social enterprises analyzed their phase-contingent network orchestration. Our findings show how and why entrepreneurial contextual bridging and circumventing social liability are important for initial scaling, whereas aligned capacity building as well as aligning incentives with political actors become necessary to develop and navigate social business ecosystems. In sum, we contribute a deeper understanding of how and why agentic network actions help social entrepreneurs achieve success as they scale in an emerging economy context.

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    • Harry barkema
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  • The Serendipity Mindset: The Art & Science of Creating Good Luck

    Penguin Random House

    “A wise, exciting, and life-changing book”
    - Arianna Huffington

    "Highly recommended"
    - Reid Hoffman, Co-Founder, LinkedIn

    Modern life can feel like an endless sequence of cancelled plans, last-minute meetings and delayed journeys. So how can we use unpredictability to our advantage? LSE and NYU academic Dr Christian Busch has spent a decade exploring how we can use uncertainty as a pathway to more joyful, purposeful and successful lives. In this book, he reveals the secrets…

    “A wise, exciting, and life-changing book”
    - Arianna Huffington

    "Highly recommended"
    - Reid Hoffman, Co-Founder, LinkedIn

    Modern life can feel like an endless sequence of cancelled plans, last-minute meetings and delayed journeys. So how can we use unpredictability to our advantage? LSE and NYU academic Dr Christian Busch has spent a decade exploring how we can use uncertainty as a pathway to more joyful, purposeful and successful lives. In this book, he reveals the secrets behind the hidden force that rules the universe: serendipity.

    The book is based on cutting-edge research in the natural and social sciences, as well as hundreds of interviews including with leading CEOs, entrepreneurs, and changemakers from around the world who turned the unexpected into opportunity by seeing and connecting the dots. Anchored in a science-based framework and peppered with inspiring stories and hands-on exercises, it captures how all of us can cultivate serendipity and turn uncertainty into opportunity, joy, and sustained success.

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  • Towards an Enlightened Form of Capitalism: The Changing Role of Private Organizations in the Context of Global Affairs

    The Future of Global Affairs (Palgrave Macmillan)

    In today's fast-changing world, the role of business, government, and civil society actors is being redefined. Enormous challenges related to climate change, inequality, populism, and technology necessitate that private sector organizations rethink their responsibilities and approaches. This provides opportunities as well as challenges. Based on our in-depth research on private sector organizations, as well as a systematic review of the most relevant developments related to the global economy…

    In today's fast-changing world, the role of business, government, and civil society actors is being redefined. Enormous challenges related to climate change, inequality, populism, and technology necessitate that private sector organizations rethink their responsibilities and approaches. This provides opportunities as well as challenges. Based on our in-depth research on private sector organizations, as well as a systematic review of the most relevant developments related to the global economy over the last 15 years, this chapter lays out a framework of how an enlightened capitalism can emerge, based on the novel approaches of impact-focused organizations. Analyzing the past and future of global affairs via the prism of the global economy, this chapter shows how purpose-orientation, co-opetition, innovative multi-stakeholder-partnerships, and community-led approaches grounded in an enlightened self-interest will shape the future of global affairs in the decades to come. It captures how, in a world of discontinuities and disruptions-in which the only constant is change, individuals and organizations can develop the capacity to deal with the unexpected and play an effective role in tackling society's most pressing challenges.

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  • From necessity to opportunity: Scaling bricolage across resource-constrained environments

    Strategic Management Journal

    Research summary
    Enterprises in low‐resource contexts often rely on bricolage (i.e., making do by applying resources at hand to new problems). However, bricolage has traditionally been regarded as a way to temporarily get by, potentially constraining growth if continued over time. This has been explained by factors such as limited development of learning competencies. Surprisingly, we encountered a social organization appearing to use bricolage to scale extensively into a variety of…

    Research summary
    Enterprises in low‐resource contexts often rely on bricolage (i.e., making do by applying resources at hand to new problems). However, bricolage has traditionally been regarded as a way to temporarily get by, potentially constraining growth if continued over time. This has been explained by factors such as limited development of learning competencies. Surprisingly, we encountered a social organization appearing to use bricolage to scale extensively into a variety of locations. This puzzling observation prompted our research question: Can bricolage be scaled, and if so, how and why? We embarked on a process study of this organization, leading to a novel conceptual model of scaling bricolage: as a low‐cost replication process of heuristics, enabling fit with a diversity of local environments, as well as cross‐unit learning.

    Managerial summary
    How do organizations emerge, survive, and scale in resource‐scarce environments? Traditional scaling models tend to rely on considerable financial resources and companies often struggle to adjust to diverse contexts. In contrast, we identified and studied an organization in Sub‐Saharan Africa that we argue used simple rules to scale bricolage—making the best out of what is at hand—successfully in diverse low‐resource contexts. Our paper provides a novel conceptual model of scaling bricolage: a low‐cost replication process of heuristics, enabling fit with a diversity of local environments, as well as cross‐unit innovation and learning.

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  • Planned Luck: How Incubators Can Facilitate Serendipity for Nascent Entrepreneurs Through Fostering Network Embeddedness

    Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice

    Incubators often play an important role in facilitating networks for entrepreneurs. However, nascent entrepreneurs typically face high uncertainty and goal ambiguity, and which ties could provide the resources needed for achieving the respective goal is often unknown in advance. How do incubators facilitate entrepreneurs’ network embeddedness in the context of such uncertainty? Using an explorative case-study approach, we studied an incubator in Kenya, an extreme setting from an uncertainty…

    Incubators often play an important role in facilitating networks for entrepreneurs. However, nascent entrepreneurs typically face high uncertainty and goal ambiguity, and which ties could provide the resources needed for achieving the respective goal is often unknown in advance. How do incubators facilitate entrepreneurs’ network embeddedness in the context of such uncertainty? Using an explorative case-study approach, we studied an incubator in Kenya, an extreme setting from an uncertainty perspective. Our findings show how in high-uncertainty contexts, a social structure that allows for flexibility can provide the conditions under which unexpected discoveries are enabled, facilitating opportunity-inducing networks.

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  • Substantiating social entrepreneurship research: Exploring the potential of integrating social capital and networks approaches

    Journal of Entrepreneurial Venturing

    A relatively recent domain of academic inquiry, social entrepreneurship (SE) has been regarded as a field that transcends the boundaries of academic disciplines (Dacin et al., 2010; Mair and Marti, 2006; Seelos and Mair, 2005). However, while the basic premise to combine financial and social impact has attracted a lot of goodwill from governments, businesses, NGOs, and educational institutions alike, the development of explanatory constructs is still limited (Grimes and Victor, 2009; Hull…

    A relatively recent domain of academic inquiry, social entrepreneurship (SE) has been regarded as a field that transcends the boundaries of academic disciplines (Dacin et al., 2010; Mair and Marti, 2006; Seelos and Mair, 2005). However, while the basic premise to combine financial and social impact has attracted a lot of goodwill from governments, businesses, NGOs, and educational institutions alike, the development of explanatory constructs is still limited (Grimes and Victor, 2009; Hull, 2010). While social entrepreneurs are socially embedded in their local communities and assumed to show the ability to build and maintain networks in order to be able to perform (Alvord et al., 2004; Dacin et al., 2011; Mair and Marti, 2006; Perrini and Vurro, 2006), there has been a lack of theoretical foundation with respect to the surrounding network dynamics. We will argue that integrating social capital/networks approaches into the literature will enhance the academic and practical impact of our approaches, and further advance the field.

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  • How to create your own career luck

    Harvard Business Review

    Job seekers, entrepreneurs, and executives aiming to advance their careers face unprecedented uncertainty. To succeed, they must be ready for the unexpected and turn it into positive outcomes by seeing and connecting the dots. In short, they need to nurture serendipity: the unexpected good luck resulting from unplanned moments, in which proactive decisions lead to positive outcomes.

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  • Leaders on Purpose CEO Study

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    PURPOSE-DRIVEN LEADERSHIP
    FOR THE 21ST CENTURY:
    HOW CORPORATE PURPOSE IS
    FUNDAMENTAL TO REIMAGINING
    CAPITALISM

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  • Social entrepreneurs as network orchestrators: a framework and research agenda on networks and leadership in the context of social innovation

    Handbook of Inclusive Innovation (Edward Elgar Publishing)

    Social networks are crucial in the context of social innovation, as tackling grand challenges in environmental sustainability, education and poverty alleviation usually requires partnerships across sectors. Over the last few decades, extensive research about the role of networks in commercial venture creation and development has been produced. However, we know surprisingly little about network development and transition in the context of social innovation, and there is a clear need for…

    Social networks are crucial in the context of social innovation, as tackling grand challenges in environmental sustainability, education and poverty alleviation usually requires partnerships across sectors. Over the last few decades, extensive research about the role of networks in commercial venture creation and development has been produced. However, we know surprisingly little about network development and transition in the context of social innovation, and there is a clear need for understanding how and why social enterprises develop networks for important social outcomes such as social inclusion. The purpose of this chapter is to review the network literature relevant to social innovation and to suggest potential avenues for further research. The authors develop a framework of Transformative Network Orchestration that helps to anchor social networks – and the related leadership approaches – in the context of social innovation. The framework addresses a gap in our collective understanding of how networks evolve in the context of social innovation and opens up intriguing avenues for further inquiry.

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Honors & Awards

  • Honors & Awards

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    - CAPITAL "40 under 40"
    - Thinkers50 Radar list "top management thinkers of the future"
    - 'Ten Outstanding Young Persons' Award for 'Academic Leadership', Junior Chamber International
    - 2018 Teaching Award, Department of Management, London School of Economics
    - ‘Best Paper Award, Social Entrepreneurship’, Academy of Management
    - ‘Best Paper Award, Entrepreneurship’, Emerald Publishing/AFAM
    - Shortlisted for Times Higher Education’s ‘Leadership Award’ and 'ESRC Future…

    - CAPITAL "40 under 40"
    - Thinkers50 Radar list "top management thinkers of the future"
    - 'Ten Outstanding Young Persons' Award for 'Academic Leadership', Junior Chamber International
    - 2018 Teaching Award, Department of Management, London School of Economics
    - ‘Best Paper Award, Social Entrepreneurship’, Academy of Management
    - ‘Best Paper Award, Entrepreneurship’, Emerald Publishing/AFAM
    - Shortlisted for Times Higher Education’s ‘Leadership Award’ and 'ESRC Future Research Leader'
    - Grants: NWOTRO; Konrad Adenauer Foundation; Haniel

  • Honors & Awards

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    - The Economist’s “Ideas People that made their mark on the world”
    - Fellow, Royal Society of Arts (RSA)
    - ‘300 world class influencers to reboot America’ (Daily Beast)
    - Global Economic Fellow, Kiel Institute for the World Economy
    - 'Future Influencer' (Siemens)

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