What's the secret to scoring a reservation at a hot new restaurant? Why did your neighbor's kid get a spot at the nearby pre-school while yours didn't? Who gets the last dessert in the freezer, the new iPhone on the day it's released, or the best match on a dating app?
We tend to think these outcomes are matter of luck. But in truth, every day we encounter countless hidden markets that determine how scarce resources are allocated-everything from tickets to almost-sold-out concerts, to life-saving organ donations, to the scarcest resource of all: your time and attention. Yet despite their outsized influence on our everyday lives, few of us fully understand how these markets work.
In traditional markets, what you get depends on what you are willing to pay for it. Hidden markets, in contrast, do not rely on prices. Instead, what you get hinges on a combination of your own choices, and the rules by which the market operates.
Regardless of the market you are playing in, you need to know the rules of the game to win it. In “Lucky by Design”, Kessler reveals how to master the rules of any market: how to spot them, how they operate, and how to maneuver in them to come out on top.
