21A – 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?

This book tries to allow you to think of life in a new perspective. It gives many life lessons that allow you to grow as a person, and ultimately as an entrepreneur. Some lessons taught from this book include do creative work first, the most important form of selfishness, changing your mind, don’t read the news for the truth, fake it till you make it, systems trump goals, and more. Overall, this books meaning is told in its title. Success comes from failure.

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

Both this book and ENT 3003 teach basic but general skills on how to be an entrepreneur. Both focus more on basic personal skills rather than actually becoming and entrepreneur, so they both go hand in hand. In ENT, we learn basic skills such as how to identify the market, how to connect with the market, and how to identify opportunities. The book, however, focuses primarily on yourself and your outlook on life. With the combination of the lessons taught from this book, as well as the lessons taught from ENT 3003, someone could have a very strong basis for one day becoming a very successful entrepreneur.

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

Something that Scott Adams hones in upon is the idea that systems beat goals. He mentions how goals have two problems: they are in the future and they’re specific. Systems, however, leave room to adjust your plans and make timing irrelevant. For this assignment, I would have every student write up three systems to help with their new startup/company/product.

Another one of the key takeaways from this is the lesson of changing your mind. Adams mentions how the ability to change your mind is probably one of the best life skills you can ever hope to develop. For an assignment, I would ask to hear about something you were set on and then changed your mind completely and why. Give two examples.

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?

The craziest moment of the book for me is when he completely redefines the connotation of being selfish. We’re taught that being selfish is bad, but it all depends on how you look at it. Being selfish can be good. Adams mentions how “the most important form of selfishness involves spending time on your fitness, eating right, pursuing your career, and still spending quality time with your family and friends.” You can’t be generous to others if you’re not in a good place. Adams argues that once your needs are met, you can focus on the needs of others. I have always been taught that being selfish is a bad thing, but when looking at it from this viewpoint, it is not bad at all, but in fact good.