In “The Unheard Story of David and Goliath,” Malcolm Gladwell tells of the hidden facts referenced in the biblical story of a giant and a shepherd boy. First off, Gladwell recites the history of the battle that occurred in the Valley of Elah between the Philistines and the Israelites. Rather than incurring the bloodshed of a major battle, David and Goliath fought using traditional, ancient warfare called single combat. Due to physical and materialistic advantages, everyone believed Goliath would win without hesitation; however, David used his strengths as a slinger to defeat Goliath with a pebble. Consequently, “David and Goliath has entered our language as a metaphor for improbable victories by some weak party over someone far stronger.” So why are we still calling David the underdog? His bravery and modesty won him the battle against one of the best infantry soldiers of their time. After years of research, scientists concluded that Goliath had “a common form of giantism called acromegaly, caused by a benign tumor on [his] pituitary gland that causes an overproduction of human growth hormone. This explains his height, his double vision and his vulnerability.” David proved that size doesn’t matter, brains do.
Follow this link to watch the TED talks video by Malcolm Gladwell: https://www.ted.com/talks/malcolm_gladwell_the_unheard_story_of_david_and_goliath
In “Learning from Business Failure: Propositions of Grief Recovery for the Self-Employed,” Dean Shepherd, Assistant Professor of Management at the University of Colorado, explores the emotions behind losing a business and the negative emotional response that interferes with the ability to learn from mistakes. To start, Shepherd gives the definition of a failure in the terms of the business world. Business failure “occurs when a fall in revenues and/or a rise in expenses are of such a magnitude that the firm becomes insolvent and is unable to attract new debt or equity funding; consequently, it cannot continue to operate under the current ownership and management.” Although losing a business may seem insignificant to some, to the founder, it’s the equivalent of losing a loved one. For them, it’s watching their dreams vanish and not being able to do anything about it. Not only is losing a business mentally and emotionally draining, it also inhibits the learning and interpretation process; however, getting things taken away, such as a business, serves as a learning experience and one that shouldn’t be overlooked. As Sitkin, a reference in the the article, argues, “Failure is more important than success for learning.”
Follow this link to learn more about this article:
http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=b276dd29-cd87-4607-a31e da04a9dfd574%40sessionmgr4004&vid=5&hid=4101
In "Ron Jaworki: Chip Kelly's Oregon Offense Won't Work in the NFL", Chip Kelly proves Ron Jaworski wrong. Chip Kelly was hired by the Philadelphia Eagles in January of 2013 after the firing of long-time head coach Andy Reid. Kelly was famous for the success he had in the “spread” offense that he ran at the University of Oregon. At every level coaches change gameplans, sometimes as often as every week, so it really isn’t a major deal if Chip Kelly’s offense wasn’t 100% the same as how he ran it at Oregon. However, former Eagles quarterback and NFL analyst Ron Jaworski criticized Kelly’s offense in May 2013. “It’s going to be interesting to see if this style of offense projects to the NFL,” Jaworski said, via Phillymag.com. “I’m going to say no.” The factor of preparation time was also compared between the college and professional levels of football, “At the collegiate level, you have 20 hours to prepare for that Oregon offense. Take out three hours of game time. You’ve got 17 hours in the course of a week to practice and prepare for that style of offense. It kills you in college. But in the NFL, these guys work 17 hours a day. A day, not a week – 17 hours a day getting ready, so there’s no secrets.” The odds are seemingly against Kelly despite his success in college. The NFL is a changing league; strategies are always in motion, future Hall of Fame coach Bill Belichick has swapped between the 34, 43 and 42 defenses numerous times throughout his years of coaching, so Kelly altering his gameplan is expected, but some critics, like Jaworski believe that the offense will need to be changed completely. “Kelly’s system will certainly be different in the NFL than it was at Oregon. The question is how different. If Jaworski is right, it will need to be very different.”
Follow this link to learn more about this article:
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/05/22/ron-jaworski-chip-kellys-oregon-offense-wont-work-in-the-nfl/
Get the Philadelphia Eagles 2013-2014 Season Stats by following this link:
http://www.nfl.com/stats/team?seasonId=2013&season&Submit=Go
The article titled “The Beginning” by Jim Alley follows the early years of Apple founder Steve Jobs, and what struggles the company had to endure in order to become the multi-billion dollar company it is today. Apple was not an overnight success, it actually took more than 30 years to become what they are. Over these 30 years the company faced countless numbers of highs and lows. Many of these lows were triggered by one man, Steve Jobs. Yes, its founder was almost responsible for its demise. Before I get to that there is some background on him that you may want to know. From an early age, Jobs was very interested in the idea of electronics. He would spend endless nights at his uncle's wood shop tearing things up and putting them back together. In high school, Jobs’ curiosity for electronics somehow expanded to what the human body could handle, like sleep deprivation. After high school, Jobs had decided he was going to become a student at Reed College, an academically rigorous school. Jobs was the little fish in the big pond and ended up dropping out within six months. That’s when things began to get weird. After dropping out, Jobs concluded he needed to become a Buddhist monk. Surprisingly, that attempt failed miserably, forcing him at HP. That is where Apple began to form, with the help of Steve Wozniak. Wozniak was always quoted, stating that “its hard to keep Jobs’ mind focused on one thing.” Jobs’ mind was constantly wandering to bigger and better things. That where the business began going downhill quickly on a “Shithead-hero rollercoaster”. It was no longer what's good for the company in Jobs’ mind, but what's good for himself. When this became more apparent, the other owners took control. They did this by firing Jobs. Later he claims “It was the best thing that ever happened to me."
The article “Why Leaders Don’t Learn from Success” teaches about why too much success can lead to failure. If a businessman is too successful, he will stop asking the tough questions that struggling businesses are forced to ask. These tough questions expand the knowledge of the businessman who is asking, and if these successful men stop asking, their knowledge is not furthered. One of the most prime examples of a business that was forced to ask questions would be Ducati, a motorsports racing company. Ducati started in the early 2000’s and was forced to tweak their design on a weekly basis when they first began. This tweakings caused them to ask simple but complex questions which in the end, propelled them to the top of the motorsports industry. These questions are the building block to a successful business, and without them failure is iminent.
Follow this link to watch the TED talks video by Malcolm Gladwell: https://www.ted.com/talks/malcolm_gladwell_the_unheard_story_of_david_and_goliath
In “Learning from Business Failure: Propositions of Grief Recovery for the Self-Employed,” Dean Shepherd, Assistant Professor of Management at the University of Colorado, explores the emotions behind losing a business and the negative emotional response that interferes with the ability to learn from mistakes. To start, Shepherd gives the definition of a failure in the terms of the business world. Business failure “occurs when a fall in revenues and/or a rise in expenses are of such a magnitude that the firm becomes insolvent and is unable to attract new debt or equity funding; consequently, it cannot continue to operate under the current ownership and management.” Although losing a business may seem insignificant to some, to the founder, it’s the equivalent of losing a loved one. For them, it’s watching their dreams vanish and not being able to do anything about it. Not only is losing a business mentally and emotionally draining, it also inhibits the learning and interpretation process; however, getting things taken away, such as a business, serves as a learning experience and one that shouldn’t be overlooked. As Sitkin, a reference in the the article, argues, “Failure is more important than success for learning.”
Follow this link to learn more about this article:
http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=b276dd29-cd87-4607-a31e da04a9dfd574%40sessionmgr4004&vid=5&hid=4101
In "Ron Jaworki: Chip Kelly's Oregon Offense Won't Work in the NFL", Chip Kelly proves Ron Jaworski wrong. Chip Kelly was hired by the Philadelphia Eagles in January of 2013 after the firing of long-time head coach Andy Reid. Kelly was famous for the success he had in the “spread” offense that he ran at the University of Oregon. At every level coaches change gameplans, sometimes as often as every week, so it really isn’t a major deal if Chip Kelly’s offense wasn’t 100% the same as how he ran it at Oregon. However, former Eagles quarterback and NFL analyst Ron Jaworski criticized Kelly’s offense in May 2013. “It’s going to be interesting to see if this style of offense projects to the NFL,” Jaworski said, via Phillymag.com. “I’m going to say no.” The factor of preparation time was also compared between the college and professional levels of football, “At the collegiate level, you have 20 hours to prepare for that Oregon offense. Take out three hours of game time. You’ve got 17 hours in the course of a week to practice and prepare for that style of offense. It kills you in college. But in the NFL, these guys work 17 hours a day. A day, not a week – 17 hours a day getting ready, so there’s no secrets.” The odds are seemingly against Kelly despite his success in college. The NFL is a changing league; strategies are always in motion, future Hall of Fame coach Bill Belichick has swapped between the 34, 43 and 42 defenses numerous times throughout his years of coaching, so Kelly altering his gameplan is expected, but some critics, like Jaworski believe that the offense will need to be changed completely. “Kelly’s system will certainly be different in the NFL than it was at Oregon. The question is how different. If Jaworski is right, it will need to be very different.”
Follow this link to learn more about this article:
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/05/22/ron-jaworski-chip-kellys-oregon-offense-wont-work-in-the-nfl/
Get the Philadelphia Eagles 2013-2014 Season Stats by following this link:
http://www.nfl.com/stats/team?seasonId=2013&season&Submit=Go
The article titled “The Beginning” by Jim Alley follows the early years of Apple founder Steve Jobs, and what struggles the company had to endure in order to become the multi-billion dollar company it is today. Apple was not an overnight success, it actually took more than 30 years to become what they are. Over these 30 years the company faced countless numbers of highs and lows. Many of these lows were triggered by one man, Steve Jobs. Yes, its founder was almost responsible for its demise. Before I get to that there is some background on him that you may want to know. From an early age, Jobs was very interested in the idea of electronics. He would spend endless nights at his uncle's wood shop tearing things up and putting them back together. In high school, Jobs’ curiosity for electronics somehow expanded to what the human body could handle, like sleep deprivation. After high school, Jobs had decided he was going to become a student at Reed College, an academically rigorous school. Jobs was the little fish in the big pond and ended up dropping out within six months. That’s when things began to get weird. After dropping out, Jobs concluded he needed to become a Buddhist monk. Surprisingly, that attempt failed miserably, forcing him at HP. That is where Apple began to form, with the help of Steve Wozniak. Wozniak was always quoted, stating that “its hard to keep Jobs’ mind focused on one thing.” Jobs’ mind was constantly wandering to bigger and better things. That where the business began going downhill quickly on a “Shithead-hero rollercoaster”. It was no longer what's good for the company in Jobs’ mind, but what's good for himself. When this became more apparent, the other owners took control. They did this by firing Jobs. Later he claims “It was the best thing that ever happened to me."
The article “Why Leaders Don’t Learn from Success” teaches about why too much success can lead to failure. If a businessman is too successful, he will stop asking the tough questions that struggling businesses are forced to ask. These tough questions expand the knowledge of the businessman who is asking, and if these successful men stop asking, their knowledge is not furthered. One of the most prime examples of a business that was forced to ask questions would be Ducati, a motorsports racing company. Ducati started in the early 2000’s and was forced to tweak their design on a weekly basis when they first began. This tweakings caused them to ask simple but complex questions which in the end, propelled them to the top of the motorsports industry. These questions are the building block to a successful business, and without them failure is iminent.