A Little Bit
of Luck
How much of success is the
result of simple chance?
By Daniel S. Levy
F
rom an early age, we’re taugHt tHat if we
want to get ahead in the world, we must knuckle
down, nose to the grindstone, and pull up our boot-
straps—or something like that. That we should be like
one of those Horatio Alger characters who, through talent—
and hard, hard work—ultimately achieve the American Dream.
Many of us learned in school how Thomas Edison tested a vast
array of materials, from coconut fiber to human hair, and only
then figured out that carbonized bamboo was the best substance
for a reliable light-bulb filament. “Before I got through,” he ad-
mitted, “I tested no fewer than 6,000 vegetable growths, and
ransacked the world for the most suitable filament material.”
Edison, of course, was the Wizard of Menlo Park who
amassed 1,093 patents for everything from the phonograph
to the motion picture. He also famously posited that “genius
is 2 percent inspiration and 98 percent perspiration.” But de-
spite Edison’s brilliance and indefatigability, it was a bit of luck
(and courage) that set him on his spectacular path. As a teen-
ager, Tom happened to be at the right place at the right time
to rescue a 3-year-old about to be hit by a train. In gratitude,
the child’s father rewarded Edison by teaching him railroad
telegraphy, which placed the youth on the road to inventing.
Edison is far from the only innovator blessed by Goddess
Fortuna. Take Alexander Fleming. When the bacteriologist re-
turned from a vacation, he was disheartened to find his Lon-
THE SUCCESSFUL ATTITUDE
