Assignment 13A- Reading Reflection 1

I read the book Andrew Carnegie by David Nasaw.

• What surprised you the most?
• I was legitimately shocked by the ways in which Carnegie made most of his money. From my limited knowledge before reading this book I thought his primary source of income was his steel business and other businesses, not outside sources. Looking back on it I should have figured that but I never made the connection. It would make sense that he amassed that amount of many through multiple ventures and opportunities. 
• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?
• I admired his drive and unrelenting pursuit of a larger goal. He never let anything get in his way and stop him. Even if this meant doing things that may not have been the most ethical. Towards the end of his life he became more and more intrigued with the goal of world peace. This is an incredibly large task obviously, yet he approached it and did everything he could to try and develop a path towards this end. This included but is not limited to large contributions to charities and to President Taft and his platform.      
•  What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?
• The thing I least admired about him was also the thing I most admired him for, his drive to try and tackle giant challenges. A prime example of this was the attempt to reach world peace. I do not admire this trait because of the fact that it wastes time and resources that can further other goal that are much more reasonable. While I believe that it is a good thing to aim for challenging goals, I also maintain that it is a better thing to reach for actually attainable  goals.
• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?
• He most assuredly ran into failure. The largest was most likely the time he used new British methods for creating stronger steel railroads but these methods ended up being useless. The biggest problem with this was the fact that he used the family's money. He did eventually recover this money through many underhanded tactics that were legal at the time but are not now. He just continually moving forward at any cost and by any method.
• What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited?
• He had many competencies. The most noticeable one by far though was his ability to bend the rules and regulations to be able to do what he wants to. The things he did where not even close to the most straightforward or fair but he always managed to get away with it and make a large profit. Another of his competencies was his skills in mathematics. This skill allowed him to assess the risks and rewards of his decisions so that he could go into an opportunity fully aware of the consequences.
• Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you. 
• One part that I found confusing was the decision to lie to his brother about obtaining the patents for the techniques to create the rails for the railroad. This confused me simply because of the fact that he could have been able to assess the plans more carefully had he not been worried about hiding the way he obtained the patents.
•  If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?   
• The first question I would ask him is why he thought that he needed to use such underhanded tactics so often when it came to new ventures. I would ask him this because there are plenty of less risky ways to accomplish these goals and ventures. He could have been more transparent and forth right so that he could avoid gaining an unsavory reputation. The second question I would ask him is what the transformation from poor immigrant to wealthy almost american hero. I am incredibly curious how much this factored into his drive and passion. I know he was very proud of what he became, but i'm more curious as to how much this goal drove him forward and upward.
•  For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?  
• I think that his definition of hard work is to use anything that you can to your advantage and propel yourself forward at any cost. I think he would say something like "you have only worked hard when you have obtained success" or something along those lines. I do share this view to a certain extent, but I also believe that one has worked hard even if they haven't achieved success, fame, and fortune. I believe that many people work incredibly hard every day but are not well known and awarded.