The Wright Brothers, David McCullough
1.
You read about an entrepreneur:
· What surprised you the most?
What
surprised me the most from the Wright Brothers story is how long it took them
to finally get their airplane to fly. It was a ten year quest before they were
successful.
· What about the entrepreneur
did you most admire?
I
admire that even though Wilbur was in an accident he was able to find something
to do and he ended up benefiting from having nothing to do.
· What about the entrepreneur
did you least admire?
I did
not really find something that I did not admire about the brothers. But, it
seems like they spent most of their time working on creating a plane, I do not
know how much time they spent with friends and family.
· Did the entrepreneur encounter
adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?
The
Wright Brothers experienced lots of adversity and failures. Their adversities
at times were what helped that become successful. When they encountered a
failure they just kept pursuing their ideas. The Wright Brothers were very
smart and persistent.
2. What competencies did you
notice that the entrepreneur exhibited?
I noticed that they were able to adapt to different factors and never give
up. They were able to use ideas and build off of them. They were able to complement
each other and work successfully as a team.
3.
Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.
It was confusing to me how the Wright Brothers were able to learn about
flying from observing birds.
4.
If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would
you ask? Why?
I
would ask if they think they would have been able to come create a plane
without having each other? I think it would be interesting to know if they
would have created something else or nothing at all if they worked separately. I
would also ask if they had any other ideas they wanted to pursue but were unsuccessful
at.
5. For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's
opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion? I think the Wright Brother’s
opinion of hard work was not giving up no matter what obstacle they faced. For
how long they pursued their idea, there were probably many times they wanted to
give up but they did not. I would agree with their opinion.
Allyson,
ReplyDeleteI think the Wright Brothers are a good lesson in how long it can take a grand plan or goal to play out. 10 years may seem like a long time, but can you imagine anything less for building the first flying machine? That invention gave rise to a whole new world of exploration and development for humanity. We should all keep this in mind if we pursue goals that require years of work, but in the end will pay off immensely.
Hey Allyson,
ReplyDeleteThe Wright Brothers' story definitely shows how hard work can pay off in the long run with all the different prototypes they had to go through before finding the right one. The lack of family time seems to be a constant with a lot of the posts I've read. I had no idea Wilbur had an accident but still continued to pursue his and his brothers' dream which is really cool.
Allyson,
ReplyDeleteI also read about the Wright Brothers and really admired their resilience when it came to their flyers. Whether it was years of failed designs, or painful crashed, neither Wright Brother gave in on their quest for powered flight. One of the things I also admired about them is how well their skills seemed to complement each other. Wilbur was a cunning businessman and Orville was a genius mechanic.