Reading reflection I

The book I chose to read was The Wright Brothers by David McCullough.

1) You read about an entrepreneur:

• What surprised you the most?

I didn't realize that Orville and Wilbur Wright were in their 40s when they had their breakthrough flight and lived at home until they were in their 30s! That's usually what we call manchildren.

• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?

Their teamwork. As someone who had a project fail due to my partner falling through, I deeply admire the bond of the brothers.

• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?

While firm believers in their own product, it led to some arrogance. After their success, one of their plane models was malfunctioning and resulted in the death of several soldiers, but the brothers blamed it on pilot incompetency. Tt took multiple deaths for them to admit it was a mistake on their part.

• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?

Yes. After the success at Kitty Hawk, the brothers attempted to sell their idea to the US government, but they weren't interested. Thus, the Wright brothers took their idea to France, where it was much better received and the US finally took interest after that.

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? 

The two had already run a successful newspaper, print shop, and bike shop. They'd already demonstrated competency in entrepreneurship by the time they were making flying machines.

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

I wish the McCullough had included more in the reading about the brothers' childhood. They evidently had a strong bond with their father and their sister, and I would've liked to learn more about the roots. How a family was alright with letting their children live with them well into their 30s demands an explanation!!

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

Why did the deadly aspect of flight motivate you to to work on your own dangerous machines? Have you always been thrill seekers? Maybe I'm just lame, but you can't capitalize on your success if you're dead.
How did you stay motivated when even your own country wasn't interested in your success? Did you imagine there to be a market for flying machines? I imagine paying the bills was an important priority.

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

Neither of them married and they were constantly stressed, so I imagine that their opinion of hard work was simply being a good, old-fashioned workaholic. While I strive to better my work ethic and I don't mind my projects infringing on relationships, I draw the line at risking my health. You only get one body!