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Is your career path a result of a plan, or pure dumb luck?

Mark Schaefer
8 min readApr 1, 2019

By Mark Schaefer

Last year my smart friend James Hahn suggested that I read a book called The Click Moment: Seizing Opportunity in an Unpredictable World.

I hesitated because it sounds like some sort of boring SEO book but, in fact, it’s an interesting tale that is a lot different from what the title portrays. The book describes in great detail how almost every great business leader and company is in our world due to pure dumb luck. Strategy and planning don’t really mean anything … it’s who you met, where you were, some accident that created a business epiphany.

For example, both Bill Gates and Steve Jobs had unique access to early computer prototypes as teens. The author uses their example — and many others — to show that extraordinary opportunities, not some visionary talent, create the people and products we respect today.

I decided to test this with some of my friends, colleagues and social media personalities we know and love. Did they get to where they are today by following a plan, or was it plain old luck.

In the order I received them. Check it out …

Mari Smith, Premier Facebook Marketing Expert

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Mark Schaefer
Mark Schaefer

Written by Mark Schaefer

Keynote speaker, marketing strategy consultant, Rutgers U faculty and author of 10 books including KNOWN, Marketing Rebellion, and Belonging to the Brand!

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