27A - Reading Reflection No. 3

Reading Reflection No. 3

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?

The general theme of “Innovation and Entrepreneurship” by Peter Drucker was that innovators and entrepreneurs work to create something entirely new while transcending societal values. Innovation calls for direct change in organizations. Entrepreneurs use innovation “as a tool” to exploit opportunity. Therefore, throughout the book, Drucker argues and proves that innovation is a “social” term, not a technical term. 

2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

The book directly connected with ENT 3003 because the entire class is focused on defining and practicing entrepreneurship, which hugely involves innovation. Drucker mentioned failure and presented it as an opportunity to learn and improve as an entrepreneur. This is a timely concept, given the assignment about failure this week. Drucker writes that unexpected failure demands that you go out, look around, and listen, and it should be taken seriously. Throughout this class, we as entrepreneurs have been instructed to go out, look around, and listen to feedback about our business concept. Reading this book reinforces the importance of input, failure, and combining the two to improve your chances of success as an entrepreneur. 

3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

If I had to design an exercise for this class based on the book, I would design an exercise that involved innovating a current piece of technology, to bring it into the future. The second part of that assignment would involve developing something entirely new, that doesn’t exist in the market, that would have the potential to revolutionize an industry. Then, I would have students compare their two products and decide which one is more innovative and why. This would ensure their understanding of true innovation. 

4) What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?

My biggest surprise or “aha” moment in the book was when Drucker explained that entrepreneurship was mostly risky due to the fact that so few “entrepreneurs” actually know what they are doing. Also, like Dr. Pryor mentioned, Drucker postulates that entrepreneurship is a behavior rather than a personality trait. This means that essentially any personality could become a successful entrepreneur.