Reading Reflection No. 2

1) The book that I chose for my second reading reflection is How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams. Adams is the founder of the infamous American comic strip "Dilbert," known for its satirical office humor. The general theme of the book was about the different theories and lessons that Adams has learned throughout his life regarding how to maximize one's likelihood for success. He talks about his many personal experiences and how they have all contributed to his profound understanding of failure---in particular, how failure and can be optimized in order to eventually discover your winning ticket in life.

2) The book, in my opinion, connected with and enhanced what I am learning in ENT 3003 by reinforcing the many misconceptions that individuals have regarding entrepreneurship. For instance, we have learned that entrepreneurship is a developed skill---success and a million dollar idea is not cultivated over night. It takes patience, understanding, and multiple trials. Throughout this class thus far, we have engaged in various assignments more than once and for good reason: you learn something new each time. In the book, Adams discussed about the importance of learning from past endeavors (and mistakes), and leveraging those experiences in order to keep yourself motivated and closer to success. 

3) If I had to design an exercise for this course, based on the book I read, it would be about how to strategically manage one's energy. Adams explained that at different parts of the day, we as humans, have different energy levels. Thus, it is essential to match our activities to the mental energy we have. For instance, Adams talked about how he draws in the morning because that is when he needs to have the most creativity (and he has the most energy around 6 AM). However, Adams engages in "busy" or less stimulating work in the afternoon (around 2 PM) because that is when he has less mental energy. By following this routine, he is able to maximize his productivity in any given day. Therefore, I would design an exercise in which students would create an outline of their day, detailing at which parts they exhibit peak energy and low energy. Based on this outline, students can decide when would be the most appropriate time to engage in certain activities that are either more or less stimulating than others. 

4) My biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book was when Adams talked about how "success creates passion more than passion creates success." At first, I was utterly confused by this statement. I have always been under the assumption that passion is the ultimatum that eventually propels you to reach your goals. While true to a certain extent, Adams explained that passion is not always everything. In fact, individuals have a tendency to develop passion after an idea becomes successful. This even applied to the "Dilbert" comic strip---it was just merely another one of Adams's hopeful ideas to make it big, but never did Adams become passionate about comic strips and sketching until it became successful. Thus, rather than passion, a simple desire to work hard and an idea that looks promising is more of a telling indicator for whether someone will be successful or not.