Learn · TED

Talk13 min

Is luck random — or can you cultivate it?

Christian Busch · TED

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About

When the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires destroyed his home and neighborhood, scientist Christian Busch encountered the opposite of serendipity: "zemblanity," or bad luck by design. Drawing on more than a decade of scientific research, he explores how people can navigate unpredictability by adopting a serendipity mindset that transforms setbacks into unexpected new beginnings. He asks: What if good luck isn't random but can actually be cultivated?

The talk

  1. Is luck random — or can you cultivate it? 13 min · TED's player

Credits and licence

Institution
TED
Department
TED@BCG
Speaker
Christian Busch
Year
2025
Level
For everyone
Language
English
Source
TED
Licence
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, as TED states it. Non-commercial use only, and no changed versions. TED's terms
Attribution
TED Talks are licensed by TED under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International and are shown here in TED's own player, as TED's usage policy asks.
Who can watch
TED gives no rating. Invisible Network shows it to Teens profiles and older, judged from what the source says about it. How courses are placed