The Unexpected Game
Description
The Unexpected Game challenges the managerial illusion that uncertainty can be fully controlled. Instead, it demonstrates how organizations actively shape their relationship with the unexpected. By introducing the concepts of serendipity (turning surprises into opportunities), zemblanity (drifting into predictable failure), and bahramdipity (suppressing novel ideas under hierarchy), the book offers a fresh lens on how managerial action influences outcomes under uncertainty-at both individual and organizational levels. Blending theory, empirical cases, and practical diagnostic tools, it provides a framework for engaging with uncertainty more deliberately. Written for scholars, managers, and entrepreneurs, the book encourages a shift from attempting to eliminate uncertainty to learning how to navigate it wisely.
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Person
Marco Balzano is a Research Fellow in Management at the University of Trieste, Italy. He holds a joint PhD in Management from Ca' Foscari University of Venice and SKEMA Business School. His research primarily explores business strategy and innovation management. His work has appeared in leading international journals, including Research Policy, California Management Review, and Technovation, among others. He also serves as Associate Editor for the Journal of Small Business Management and Strategic Change.
Content
Management as the Craft of Embracing Uncertainty.- 2. Serendipity: Conceptual Roots and Necessary Conditions.- 3. Planning Luck: On the Cultivation of Serendipity.- 4. Zemblanity: The Unintended Rise Of Bad Luck.- 5. Diagnosing Organizational Zemblanity: From Isolated Errors to Endogenous Decline.- 6. The Bahramdipity Trap: Killing Ideas Before They Breathe.- 7. Bahramdipity in Organizations: Structures, Logics, and Mechanisms of Serendipity Suppression.- 8. Playing The Long Game: Agentic Luck In An Unpredictable World.