I saw an article on the Forbes website and thought it kind of summarizes some of the things we spoke about this semester. Here is the link: http://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2013/12/17/14-things-every-successful-person-has-in-common/
Category Archives: Dream Bigger
Into Thin Air
For those interested in further reading about the Everest tragedy, Jon Krakauer, the journalist in Rob Hall’s group, wrote a book called Into Thin Air about his experience. I read it when I was young and found it really fascinating.
Yet Another Tragedy on Everest…
This video compiled by the New York Times shows the last minutes of a doomed climbing party–before an avalanche claimed their lives.
THE SPECTACULAR FAILURE OF THE STARTUP THAT WAS GOING TO CHANGE THE WORLD
Better Place was a venture-backed international company that developed and sold battery-charging and battery-switching services for electric cars. A company many described as “born to be revolutionary.”
This article is a great piece on the failure of Better Place due to not going lean and perhaps also poor financial management.
Great example of conventions and need for innovation: boarding airplanes
Remember that we discussed conventions in the session on bigger dreams, and how people can add new value to work if they question deeply held assumptions? here’s a great example of an inferior convention: the way we board airplanes. Turns out that there is a far faster method. Are you surprised by which is the fastest?
Obama dreams of Jiro…
Jiro shows up in the news. Even at it at age 89, still at it…
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/04/23/306227740/obama-gets-a-taste-of-jiros-dream-sushi-in-name-of-diplomacy
Pre-K Meet Accountability
http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/04/the-accountability-revolution-comes-to-head-start/361161/
This article visits the accountability of head start preschools that go beyond the scope of nap times and teaching nursery rhymes. President Obama often points to research showing a high quality pre-school program can lead to better academic performance through high school. But currently, these pre-k’s aren’t measuring up to standards to adequately prepare children. Currently, there’s not much of a measure for the knowledge learned in pre-k. But as states invest more heavily into pre-k educations, there are questions about how effective funding is in relation to the level of education of the children. As a result, numerous programs are failing to prepare underprivileged pre-k students for elementary school. As a result, schools are reacting to this by revisiting the curriculum currently taught.
Flying Cars or 140 Chars?
This article nicely summarizes the economics and thinking of Internet entrepreneurs when it comes to founding companies. Why is that so few entrepreneurs(and engineers) dream big and follow through? Is it a risk/reward thing? Is it hedging? We put a man in space in just 10 years, what happened to that ambition?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ian-cinnamon/flying-cars-or-140-chars_b_5099126.html
A bicycle simplified… the Bicymple
“Once you learn how to ride a bike you never forget”. There are things we learn when we are kids and never actually forget how to do it, and bicycles are a great example. We tend to look at it as a finished product, it is as good as it will ever be. Right?
We as we learned with “Jiro, Dreams of Sushi” there is always room for improvement. Even if it takes a month, a year, or a lifetime, there is no such thing as a finished product or Jiro’s case, the perfect sushi. Jiro focused on the details of his craft to keep improving, sometimes the improvement might not be in the details but in the overall aggregate. That is the case of the Bicymple.
In 2011, Josh Bechtel decided to create a great bicycle experience and his approach was to simplify. Remove chains, remove gears, strip everything down to basics , and enjoy the ride. For this he created a Kickstater campaign and got double the funding he needed. The bicymple is a reality, albeit in a prototype sense. We might have to relearn how to ride a bike but from the looks of it, it will be worth it. There is no such thing as a finished product…
Intrigued? Watch the following video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lzUBCRBJeg
- Kickstarter page: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/joshbechtel/the-bicymple
- Website: http://www.bicymple.com/
Why America Hasn’t Gone Back to the Moon
This video explores the reasons why, even though we managed to put a man on the moon in the span of 9 years, we haven’t gone back. Here we also learn some key steps it took to get us there:
1. Get a Visionary
2. Have a Cold War
3. Very Large Budget
4. Work Long Hours. Through the 60s, around 400,000 people worked to send people to the moon. Seamstresses for space suits worked around 100 hours a week for nine years.
5. Innovate
6. The Right People at the Controls
These are the theories that Time believe it would take to put people back on the moon. Many believe we could not do it again.
VIDEO BELOW:
Why America Hasn’t Gone Back to the Moon