243: Engineering Serendipity and Best Practices for Community-Building with David Spinks

Free Time with Jenny Blake

"For the first time in a decade, I feel free again." That’s how one of my earliest blogging friends, longtime community leader David Spinks, was feeling when I caught up with him in-person in the middle of his yearlong sabbatical, after selling his community-based business.

David and I discuss best practices for creating and nurturing communities, for engineering serendipity, what it’s like to build and run a conference (and later sell it), and the freedom that comes with taking a deliberate sabbatical.

More About David: David Spinks is the author of The Business of Belonging and a popular weekly newsletter for community creators. Previously he co-founded CMX, the leading network for community professionals that was later acquired by Bevy.

🌟 From David’s Post on How to Engineer Serendipity

A 2015 study set out to discover how serendipity occurs. Through in-depth interviews, they uncovered the 4-step process (edited for clarity):

1. ⚡️ Trigger: A cue that sparks an experience of serendipity. (e.g. meet at an event, see a question in your Slack, get introduced…)
2. 🧠 Connection: The recognition of a potential valuable outcome (e.g. learning, collaboration, friendship)
3. 🤳 Follow-up: An action taken to obtain the valuable outcome (e.g. set up a meeting, plan a project, chat on AIM…)
4. 🏆 Valuable outcome: The positive result of the serendipitous experience (e.g. form a meaningful relationship, learn something new, commit to build something together…)

And there’s one more factor. . . for serendipity to occur, there must be an 🧵 “unexpected thread” throughout the experience. The more unexpected each step feels, the more it will be perceived as serendipity.

📝 Permission

To say no to virtual meetings!

✅ Do (or Delegate) This Next

If you run a community, build a process to facilitate random encounters: Introduce mechanisms that encourage serendipitous connections among community members. For example, you can implement a "random pairing" feature that pairs members together for one-on-one conversations or create opportunities for members to showcase their work or expertise.

🔗 Resources Mentioned

• David on the web, Twitter, LinkedIn
• David’s Substack: David Spinks
• Articles: Substack—How to Engineer Serendipity
• How I Reduced Scheduled Meetings by 90%

📚 Books Mentioned

• The Business of Belonging: How to Make Community your Competitive Advantage
• Free Time: Lose the Busywork, Love Your Business
• Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One
• Life After College

🎧 Related Episodes

• Masters of Community with David Spinks
• Free Time: 141: Process, Permission Slips, and Business Pivots with Tara McMullin
• 241: Finding Freedom and Financial Reciprocity through a Paid Newsletter with Nic Antoinette
• 093: How to Sell Your Online Business with Alexis Grant
• 167: Transform Your Approach to Community-Building with Gina Bianchini

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