13A- Reading Reflection 1

The Wright Brothers by. David McCullough

1.      

·           One thing that surprised me was how young the wright brothers were when they began entrepreneurial endeavors. Wilbur being the eldest was only 22 and Orville 18 when they started a newspaper with their own constructed printing press. Orville was 32 and Wilbur 36 when they achieved flight which is an age I expected but did not realize they began their innovative undertakings so many years prior. I would have had expected them to attend higher education or some form of technical training before attempting such a great feat.

·           What I most admired about the Wright brothers as entrepreneurs was their ability to work cohesively toward their goal, especially as brothers. The book discusses the development of technical skill in both brothers but Wilbur was really the visionary with a knack for creativity and business while Orville was great with tinkering and inventing.

·           The Wright brothers experienced countless failures in the process of designing the airplane and had everyone doubting them along the way. Though, what really stood out to me was how they handled failure after their success. That sounds like an oxymoron but when they had successful flown and were still denied by the Army. It was like shattering a dream but they turned to Europeans who were very interested in their work and they were able to capitalize on it.

2.          I think persistence was a major competency demonstrated by the Wright brothers. I mean they were making history and if it were not for them believing in each other it would not have happened. The book discusses how their family also helped to support them. Without persistence and that network of support the airplane may have never existed. Wilbur had to deal with not being able to attend to college which was his dream and he was able to extend his passion to another endeavor.

3.      The only really confusing part I guess would be really the whole idea of how in the world the wright brothers had the ideas and resources to pull this off. As Mcollough said “They had no college education, no formal technical training, no experience working with anyone other than themselves, no friends in high places, no financial backers, no government subsidies, and little money of their own.” Throughout the book I was left wondering how nobody else had come to the realizations that these two seemingly average boys with limited resources had.

4.          I would ask the two brothers what kept them motivated the whole time. What enabled them to see the light at the end of the tunnel through so many dead ends. I would also ask what was more satisfying in the end, proving to themselves that they could do it or proving to everyone else that could do it.

5.          The Wright brothers’ definition of hard work would definitely be working past failure and not quitting when things did not go your way. With no technical background Wilbur and Orville were able to achieve the first powered flight in human history. They did not get there through college studies or business research and development but through their own trial and error. Hard work and perseverance go hand in hand. I fully agree with this notion and doubt that many entrepreneurs achieve success by backing down to failure along the way.