13A – Reading Reflection No. 1
Ashlee Vance - Elon Musk; Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future
1) You read about an entrepreneur:
- What surprised you the most?
- What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?
- What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?
- Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?
It was interesting to see how he love a vulgar word and they do say that people who use vulgarities are often more truthful. Perhaps with that Elon created a culture of straightforwardness instead of beating around the bush and wasting time. He also said he didn't think some subjects he had to learn and get grades for were necessary and I totally agree with him as that was what I thought when I was going to pursue a diploma in Business Informatics instead of going the "normal" certification of a high school
I admire Elon Musk because he is interested in a bigger picture, a worldview. He is interested in the different trades, skills and knowledge and allowed him to create so many ideas and companies that are not directly connected to his main skill set.
The thing I least admired was that he did not treat his employees well. It is also one reason why I do not look up to Steve jobs but unlike him, I feel Elon is truly a visionary. and has the talent to back it up. I thought he would be "nice" to his employees but perhaps he was giving them the hard truth and some people might interpret it as rude or mean. But one thing is that everyone admired him.
When Elon was younger, he wasn't considered the best in his class but part of a group of students who joined an experimental computer program to learn programming languages. I felt this is an important point as I too was not great in my school but I did well for my computing class there only a very small number of schools were teaching and that eventually led me to my scholarship and path to excel in an area of study. I think this "beating the system" or going through hardship is important as perseverance was key to Elon's Space X program where the company failed to the last dollar being put on the line and finally succeeded. It would have been a very stressful situation and I do not think a person who has never failed could have pulled it off.
2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited?
Elon is a very hard working person , almost like a robot.
He is also straightforward , creative , curious.
He is precise and accurate and wants to ensure there is no chance of misinterpretation (although he might not convey that when he speaks or tweets 😖)
Elon is a very hard working person , almost like a robot.
He is also straightforward , creative , curious.
He is precise and accurate and wants to ensure there is no chance of misinterpretation (although he might not convey that when he speaks or tweets 😖)
3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.
One thing that confused me was that Elon wanted to make X.com or a internet banking company that was better than the banks and felt he could come up with something better but yet partnered up with them. Perhaps either money or regulations or even technology did not let him do so.
One thing that confused me was that Elon wanted to make X.com or a internet banking company that was better than the banks and felt he could come up with something better but yet partnered up with them. Perhaps either money or regulations or even technology did not let him do so.
4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?
- I would ask what are the industries or areas that we should see innovations in.
He said "too many smart people pursuing Internet stuff, finance, and law ... That is part of the reason why we haven’t seen as much innovation" and I agree to a certain extent and I would be guilty of pursing such developments since I am in the information system/ IT industry , but I also like creating things to help society , and if possible with IT since it is so incorporated into our daily lives. - I would also ask him if he wanted to buy into my idea, a slight jab at paypal and the traditional payment gateway systems :D
5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?
I would think he thinks hard work is very important especially when he said that the company or his employees were getting weak when less and less people were working on the weekends.
Personally I feel that although hard work is very important ,we need time off to free our mind and from there we get more creativity and ideas. When we are stuck on a problem , staying up late and to keep working on that problem does not help. Taking a break releases the pressure and lets us look at the problem from a different perspective.
I would think he thinks hard work is very important especially when he said that the company or his employees were getting weak when less and less people were working on the weekends.
Personally I feel that although hard work is very important ,we need time off to free our mind and from there we get more creativity and ideas. When we are stuck on a problem , staying up late and to keep working on that problem does not help. Taking a break releases the pressure and lets us look at the problem from a different perspective.
I feel inspired after reading this. Sometimes I think I get caught up I. the small stuff. I like that he looked at the bigger picture. Straightforwardness instead of beating around the bush and wasting time is vital when it comes to hitting your goals. I hope to do this now. With my small business, I need to prioritize whats important to me.
ReplyDeleteElon really is one of those larger than life people. I didn’t know he Elon was part of an alternative education program or that the kind of classes he took when he was young even existed but it totally makes sense. Your questions are very well thought out. I like how you’d try to leverage his knowledge and resources to help your business.
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