I decided to read "How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big" by Scott Adams. I really enjoyed the book and feel like I've learned a good amount from it. It also gave me a lot of relief to any anxiety I had regarding my own personal talents and my future.
I felt that the general theme or argument related heavily to the title of the book, which is that you don't have to be the best or even amazing at one thing to succeed. You can market yourself and your talents in a way to make yourself unique and eventually, win big. Also, that a big secret to success lies in not putting your faith in just your goal, but rather the system that is going to get you where you want to be.
The book helped me put what I have been learning in this class into perspective. In entrepreneurship, you are not only just marketing an idea or a product, you are marketing yourself. How do you expect an venture capitalist or investor to take you seriously and invest in you if they don't have faith in you?Its not about being the best or "most passionate" its about finding the things you do well and marketing them.
If I were to design an exercise for this class based off the book I read, I would have students paint a picture of where they want to be in five years. List things such as their physical appearance, the house they live in, the job they possess, if they are considering starting a family, etc. and really visualize what they want. Then, I would want them to list the specific systems or processes that would get them where they want to be. An example given in the book is if an individual wants to lose 20 pounds, they should focus far more on healthy eating and exercise than just the goal of being 20 pounds lighter.
What I learned that really threw me for a loop was that he believes and makes a great argument for the idea that passion is not everything when it comes to success. In life we are told that the glory goes to the person who wants it most, the individual that craves that more than anything and lives for the activity itself. However, he points out that its simply just not true. Its better to invest in the person that wants to simply succeed and make money, not someone willing to risk it all in order to follow their passion for, for example, collecting stamps.
Hi Samantha!
ReplyDeleteI decided to read the same book as you and agree with your statements. I think we both found the book to be very interesting and, by what you said, I can tell you enjoyed it. I think the exercise you would design is very beneficial to students. This would definitely get the students thinking more of how to make a system rather than set a goal, which was the whole point of Adams' chapter on "Goals versus Systems". It would especially make them think more about how goal setting can sometimes be inefficient and creating a way to reach that end result can help a lot more. I love that you added the example of losing weight because it made me really visualize the exercise more.
Hi Samantha, I did not read the same book as you but it seems like you learned a lot from the main idea of the book. I like how you mentioned that investors invest in the person not necessarily the product. I see on Shark Tank all the time they say they hate the product but they are investing because the person seems determined, smart, and energetic enough to succeed. I was surprised about the last statement that it is not about passion, but about simply wanting to make money and succeed. I will have to read the book one day to understand that message more.
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