Reading Reflection No. 2

How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, Scott Adams

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?

The general theme of the book, or at least what I took away from it, is to rethink the idea of what success is and the path to achieve that success. Adams talks about a few themes that include energy, systems vs goals, selfishness, and skills. According to Adams, one must first be able to take care of themselves (physically and financially) before they can focus on others. If you don’t take care of those essential things for yourself you become a burden on others, which makes for either party to enjoy each other. He also talks about systems vs goals, which is the concept of achieving something based on understanding/focusing on an overall strategy instead of focusing on specific goals. This makes for more sustainable habits, which in turn help you achieve your goals and be successful. Adams also points out the idea of learning new skills and doing things that make you happy. He believes that you are more productive when you incorporate things into your life that you enjoy. He also mentions that learning new skills makes you more marketable and increases your chances of success.

2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

This book had me rethink the way I view success or the path to success. This is something that I think connects with the principles I’ve learned from ENT 3003. In this class, I’ve learned that entrepreneurship is not just about figuring out the next big idea for a product or service, it’s about perseverance and continuing to challenge yourself to figure it out. Systems vs. Goals concept also connects with the class. I think that if I had set goals at the beginning of the class to come up with an idea/solution, I would have failed all along the way. Instead, thinking of it as a system in which I’m constantly challenging myself and learning from my mistakes is going to result in a better attitude and potentially successful outcome.

3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

I would use the concept of Systems vs. Goals for my exercise. In the first step, I would have students set a list of goals and steps to achieve those goals. This can be for the class itself or personal goals for the semester. After they’ve done that, I would explain the idea of systems and have them outline some systems for the same goals instead. Then I would ask them to compare the two and the feasibility of achieving those original goals. How do they think they would have felt if they did not achieve those goals? Do they think that feeling would be different if they had set systems instead?

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?

My biggest surprise when reading the book was the concept of being selfish. I didn’t expect that to be something that Adams would mention in this book. But everything made a lot more sense after reading the points he made for why all of this is important. It’s something that I’m definitely going to keep in mind when managing my own life.