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?

Drawing from his own experiences, Adams reflected on his past failures in order to learn and succeed in future opportunities. While initially, failure can be quite disappointing and dismaying to many, in reality, it's a great chance to learn from what went wrong and better prepare for the future. 

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

This book connected and enhanced this class as it provided deeper insight into the idea of constantly learning and improving based on your life experiences to become the best version of yourself that you can be. If you fail when launching your product or service, learn from what went wrong and correct it going forward to have a much greater chance of success. 

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

Having students relay their own past failures or moments of disappointments, reflect on them, and evaluate how these experiences can enable them to be better prepared and succeed in future endeavors. 

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 was pretty surprised by the author's notion that goals are something that are not something that should be encouraged in all cases. Typically, one hears from a variety of sources that setting goals is incredibly helpful in manifesting success. Instead of setting the goals, take a moment to really think about what meaningful steps you can take to get there.