Assignment 27a
Reading
Reflection No. 3
How to Fail at
Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams
The general theme of this book is about how an individual
can learn from their failures and really change their perspective of them,
helping them improve their lives. He explains how people need to focus on
certain things and find the right schedules to find the right energy. It is how
people plan out their paths and the way they react to changes, such as
failures, which defines whether it becomes a positive failure or a negative
one.
This book connects with what we are learning in class
because a big part of entrepreneurship is going through many failures before
finding the right formula. This class teaches about coming forth with an idea and
testing it out until it doesn’t fail. If an entrepreneur is unable to cope with
failure, then they will end up giving up on something that could’ve ended up
being an incredible idea. This book wants the reader to understand that
failures are good learning experiences and help individuals find their optimal
selves. It helps create a more perfect version of what you are setting out to
do. This book explains how individuals can take advantage of these failures as
learning experiences and really move forward in their lives.
If I had to design an exercise based on this concept of
failure, I’d ask my students to take part in one activity which they have never
imagined doing. I’d like them to tell me about their feelings and how everything
went. I want to see how they cope with the stress of failure and whether they
learned something from it.
One thing that surprised me was the fact that Adams believes
we shouldn’t be focusing on goals since they’re in the future and create
disappointment. I always thought creating goals was effective. However, he says
that building a system which helps you stay motivated and minimizes potential
disappointment is more effective.
Guillaume, after reading your post I too am a bit surprised by what the author said about goals. Most of our lives we are taught that we have to set goals that can challenge us and that the practice of goal setting is something very positive. I think his point of view is interesting but also probably right in certain contexts. Sometimes we don't achieve goals we thought were possible and it does disappoint us.
ReplyDeleteThis book seemed to be a popular choice and I can see why. The title jumped out at me from the list of required readings and it was an easy choice. I also have always thought it was important and admirable to have goals, but Scott Adams makes an important point- Goals rely on future scenarios working out in a pre-meditated way, which just isn't how the world works. Accepting that not everything is going to happen as you want and being able to use failure to your advantage is much more realistic.
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