Enabling the unexpected: How error-mastery cultures foster serendipitous discovery in infrastructure projects

While serendipity is often associated with chance, it can also be cultivated under the right conditions. In construction, however, the dominant logics of efficiency, control, standardisation, and error aversion tend to suppress the very conditions—exploration, openness, cross-pollination, reflection, and learning—that allow serendipity to emerge and be harnessed in projects. Drawing on a case study of an AU$19.8 billion infrastructure project delivered through a program alliance, this paper investigates how collective serendipity, though not intentionally cultivated, emerged and was sustained, contributing meaningfully to continuous improvement and innovation. The project's strategy and structure, shaped by its Project Alliance Agreement and governance arrangements, combined with the alliance's emerging practices in error management, psychological safety, and resilience, laid the foundation for nurturing collective serendipity. Notably, the very discovery of collective serendipity was itself serendipitous, arising through a reflexive, retrospective engagement with the case data. This paper makes two key contributions. First, at a theoretical level, it introduces the concept of an error-mastery culture, emphasizing its role in fostering awareness, preparedness, and openness to error —conditions under which serendipitous opportunities are more likely to be recognized and realized. Second, from a practical perspective, it provides an in-depth case analysis of how a public-sector authority consciously designed its strategy and governance mechanisms to support learning and innovation while remaining receptive to the unexpected. The insights offered in this paper collectively make a compelling case for intentionally fostering collective serendipity in infrastructure projects to enhance long-term innovation and continuous improvement outcomes.