Being in the right place at the right time can make or break careers — and companies. Or, if you are really lucky, it can turn you into a national adviser despite having the intellectual range of a houseplant.
Rosabeth Moss Kanter made this point in her 2013 article, “The First Secret of Success Is Showing Up.” She references the comedy film “Being There,” starring Peter Sellers. Sellers plays Chance the gardener, a man whose primary skill set involves watering things and not saying much of anything useful. Through a series of misunderstandings — including his name being heard as “Chauncey Gardiner” — he stumbles into elite circles. His vague comments about plants are mistaken for profound wisdom, and before long, he is advising national leaders. All because he showed up. No résumé. No LinkedIn endorsements. Just vibes and good timing.
I share Kanter’s insight not because I think we should all aspire to accidentally fail upward, but because nothing — ideas, innovation, growth — happens if we don’t actually get together and talk to each other in person. This applies everywhere: clubs, teams, businesses, families. Yes, even families. Especially families. (Try brainstorming Thanksgiving plans exclusively over email and see how that goes.)
Now, before anyone fires off a strongly worded message from a home office — possibly while still in pajama bottoms — let me say this: Video conferencing is great. It is convenient. It has saved us all from commutes, bad coffee and that one coworker who reheats fish in the break room. But it is not the same.
There’s something about being in the same room that sparks ideas in a way a Brady Bunch-style grid of faces just can’t. You might be more productive at home individually. Fantastic. But is the company better? Are new ideas actually happening? Or are we all just becoming extremely efficient at maintaining the status quo?
Kanter argues that for companies, “being there” means having a presence on the ground where important things are happening. She points to Kodak, which once dominated photography but missed the digital wave. Imagine if the company had planted itself in Silicon Valley, soaking up ideas, hiring fresh talent and bumping into entrepreneurs building the future. Instead, it stayed rooted in Rochester, New York — comfortable, familiar and increasingly outdated. Kodak didn’t fall apart because of too many Zoom calls, of course. But a lack of fresh thinking was partially to blame. And fresh thinking rarely shows up uninvited. It tends to appear when people do.
So yes, being in the right place at the right time matters. But here is the catch: You don’t get to be in the right place if you never leave your current one. This brings us back to the big secret of success: Show up. Worst-case scenario, nothing happens. Best case? You accidentally become “Chauncey Gardiner” and end up advising world leaders.
Stranger things have happened.
Have a terrific Tuesday, and thanks for reading.
Shane Goodman
Editor and Publisher
Times Vedette digital newsletter
shane@gctimesnews.com
641-332-2707