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21A- Reading Reflection No. 2

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?
I chose to read "How To Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big" by Scott Adams. The general theme of this book is the importance of failure- and why it is needed to succeed. As a society, we reject failure but the author seeks a different approach: embracing failure to later use to your advantage. Throughout the book, Adam discusses how some of his greatest successes stemmed from the most embarrassing failures.

2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?
I felt this book connected perfectly with the skills we use in this class. To be an entrepreneur, you must fail multiple times before you succeed. It is part of the process, and instead of using those instances of failure to feel sorry for yourself, we learn in this course to be proactive and fix the problem instead. Those same principles are illustrated in this book.

3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?
I would ask everyone in the class to make a venn diagram that includes pros and cons of failing... Depending on the situation, one should try to find more positives as that is a healthier outlook. We, as people, are too often beating ourselves up and being too hard on ourselves. These pitty parties don't get us anywhere, we need to do something to change our future outcome.

4) What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?
I love when the author says he "picks failures pocket" because it illustrates perfectly what he says in the book. Using that failure to your advantage, remaining confident, and not letting it knock you down.

Comments

  1. Brianna GregorioApril 3, 2020 at 10:32 AM

    Hi Skylar! I love your idea for the class assignment. I am a very optimistic person and come across a lot of people who are the opposite. I think a venn diagram focusing on the pros more than the cons would be great because it can bring more positivity to people's outlook and create change in what it seems to be a common perspective. I feel this was a worthwhile read in that the tips the book offered are very helpful when wanting to become an entrepreneur. Great job!

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  2. John DillonApril 5, 2020 at 6:06 PM

    Hi Skylar,

    Well done with your reading reflection! I definitely agree that the concept of approaching failure with a positive outlook is necessary not only to succeed as an entrepreneur but also as an individual in life, career, and any other pursuits. Like learning from failure, being positive and having a positive and resilient attitude are hard things. Anyone that tells you otherwise is very simply lying. Having good mental intelligence is something that you can't learn from a book; it comes from doing and trying, just like being an entrepreneur. It all goes hand in hand. Keep up the great work!

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  3. Miguel LucasApril 6, 2020 at 1:14 AM

    Hey Skylar,

    I enjoyed reading you feedback from the book you decided taking on for this assignment! Without a doubt, this book definitely has a strong quote people may use throughout life. I have from previous experience have felt that without failure, I would not be in the position I am as a person. Everyone goes through failure but what makes each person different is if they are going to let failure be the deciding factor on if they either caring to keep pushing or just give up. A entrepreneur does not simply get to the top without a failure. Good job on the post!

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  4. Nicholas ScibiliaApril 6, 2020 at 10:25 AM

    Hey Skylar,

    I very much loved reading your reflection and the way you thought this reading impacted you and how it magnified something we all learned in this class. It seemed like a great reading with lots of insightful information. I loved the attitude this author was trying to push, because it is usually the attitude I go about with throughout life, and not letting failure stop you but using it to only better you and to keep moving through failures is key to being a successful person. Without failure there is no success and improvements on whatever failed so that would mean progression in life would just hault or slow down tremendously. Great post, and awesome read!

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