21A

Book review for How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, Scott Adams

1) The general theme of this book in my opinion, is that if you believe in your product, or yourself, or even your work ethic, then there should not be a reason for you to fail. Failing is not going to destroy your world, even if means that it is the only thing you have ever tried at succeeding. For example: My whole life I have been dreaming about becoming a lawyer, and as I got into my courses, I started having second thoughts about the only job that I've dreamed about. I failed a class my last semester and I wanted to give up because there was no reason to continue a major that I am failing. Does that mean I failed at being a lawyer? I researched a little bit more after the defeat to see other majors that would elect me into law school and I ended up failing at a major, but succeeded in a different major that is going to continue pushing my cause. This book had many themes in my opinion, but the biggest one that I took was that failing does not really mean failing, it just means that you have to think outside of your box.

2) I chose this book because of it's title. I have learned many things from this class, but one topic that has really gave me confidence in this course is that no matter what you are, or who you are, we can all be innovators. This book proved that point to me because what you want and what you need can be different sometimes. Scott's mini projects were a "waste of time" until one of the mini projects gained equity for him and it was not a waste of talent anymore. Same goes for me, I can be a student, and have full time work, and be involved with my family, but it does not mean I cannot be involved in mini projects to enhance my knowledge/opportunities.

3) The ability to change your mind. As I meet more people, and engage in more conversations, I feel like many individuals around me have a hard time changing their believes because they are comfortable in what they believe in whether it is true or not. If there is an activity where it shows facts, or even implementing the ability to change your views/mind then I would recommend it because I find it very helpful for me to be able to accommodate in the situation.

4) In the text, a phrase stood out to me which states if your view on the world is that people are going to use reasoning for their decisions, then I am lying to myself basically because different people value different things. While that was not surprising to me, it was surprising to read those words because this was something that I do not pay attention to often. In general, I do know that we live in a world where my good intentions will not mean that the person that I am dealing with has the same good intentions. The book gave me the 'aha' because it was startling to read how your good intentions or good problem solving is not being reciprocated from your business partner/ bosses above you and it just gave me a better insight on no matter what you do, if a person has an agenda in their head, they are going to make it happen whether you like it or not.