13A
The book I read was The Wright Brothers by David McCullough
1) You read about an
entrepreneur:
· What surprised you the
most?
What really surprised me the most is the dynamic between Orville
and Wilbur Wright. How they worked together was so amazing because each other’s
strengths matched each other’s weaknesses. As a team, they were well paired. I
really believe that the dynamic and abilities of the two together made this
idea take flight.
· What about the
entrepreneur did you most admire?
I admired their determination. Even when people would tell them
that they could never fly, they didn’t stop. I think that many entrepreneurs
face this nowadays where they are told their idea is “stupid”, “irrelevant” or “impossible.
The best entrepreneurs fight through this if they truly believe in their idea.
· What about the
entrepreneur did you least admire?
I least admired how they worked off of previous people’s plans
and gave them no credit. They’re idea was not full their own, yet they still
took it as though they invented the entire idea.
· Did the entrepreneur
encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?
The wright brothers had multiple attempts and spent years
planning and failing with flight machines. The previous models didn’t have
enough surface area on the wings to allow the plane to take flight. Also, the
United states did not believe in them at first. They had to travel to France to
sell their idea in order to succeeed.
2) What competencies did
you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited?
They had a drive since
they were young to fly and were extremely motivated. They were also very good
at getting other people to help. They were persistent even after all of the
trials didn’t work.
3) Identify at least one
part of the reading that was confusing to you.
The entire family dynamic
was extremely confusing to me. Sometimes the family seemed supportive whereas
other times they didn’t seem very supportive. I really wonder how that affected
the Wright Brothers.
4) If you were able to
ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?
What do you believe are
the traits you have that made this invention happen?
I’d like to know the answer to this because they are
obviously very gifted and talented, but what do they think truly aided them in
making the abstract into concrete.
Why did the French have
such an interest in you but the USA didn’t?
I want to know what the difference is between the two
countries and cultures that made them able to sell the idea/creation to one but
not to the other? I want to know the difference in the market and why they
think this happened.
5) For fun: what do you
think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?
I think the entrepreneur’s
opinion of hard work is very high. They dedicated their entire lives at the
time to their idea, and I believe that they believe hard work is that kind of
dedication. The commitment to an idea is dependent upon an entrepreneur, but
the Wright brothers believed it took their entire focus to make successful.
You want to be sure to
cover these five elements, but I place no minimum-word requirement on your
post.
I liked that you brought up the determination part of the Wright Brothers because I think their invention and journey is a classic example of doing something so extraordinary that few would ever dare to try or challenge.
ReplyDeleteIt is an interesting point to bring up them working off people’s previous plans. I am on the fence on that , really depends on context and how much of the input the person made would have really impacted the radical change. For example , I don’t feel Steve Jobs was that visionary , perhaps a great salesman at best , but he didn’t really create the first mouse or design great phones in my opinion. He also didn’t come up with the idea of an IPod I believe. In this case, I feel the same way as you do. However, there have been so many ideas and inventions that have faced similar situations but I’d be on either side depending on the context
Jenna,
ReplyDeleteI like that you chose to read about these entrepreneurs. Specifically, in that my opportunity is regarding flights. So therefore, I really enjoyed hearing about this industry and how things first came about. Regardless of that, I also found it interesting that you brought up them working off of previous people's plans. I wrote about Steve Jobs, and there is a similarity in that it seems some people who play huge parts in these inventions/products are neglected of credit. I am unsure of how this happens/ how we chose who really gets credit. Is it the one who promotes his or herself more? The one who gets the idea finally working? I am unsure, something to look into.
Hey Jenna,
ReplyDeleteI like that you chose one of the historical biographies off the list. I chose Carnegie for the next assignment because I think it’s interesting to see the difference in how people thought and acted in the past. From your post, it seems like the Wright’s were some of the most tenacious people out there, especially considering their family wasn’t supportive of their ideas.