Is Serendipity in the Workplace Possible in a Zoom World?

Yes ofcourse. After all the most serendipitous moments of human civilization like that of archimedis finding his principle or that of Newton being intrigued by an apple falling from a tree occured in isolation.

so this idea that serendipity is tied to physical spaces is definitely a case of looking for a very direct analogue. Serendipity is all around us all the time and it's definitely possible in any setting, it's underlying principle just needs to be rediscovered in the zoom world.

I think a lot of it has to do with how companies evolve. Apple and its culture has evolved to make it reliant on these chance encounters, where as Gitlab and other fully remote companies haven't. It will be interesting to see how companies transition.

I find asynchronous mobile video to be a good addition to the mix, since it allows you to share an idea as you're having it and not have to craft it, then someone else can react and think about it when it works for them.