21A - reflection #2

Assignment 21A – Reading Reflection No. 2

-       What was the general theme or argument of the book?

o   In the book Mindset: The new Psychology of Success, by Carol Dweck, she explains the way your mindset can determine your life. She states the difference between a growth mindset and a fixed mindset, and why you should pursue a growth mindset. Her explanation of a growth mindset basically is that if you don’t succeed, you try until you do. Her thought on expertise is that it is not a fixed ability, and can evolve through purposeful engagement. Essentially what she is saying is that with the growth mindset, you can positively affect the way you lead your life.

-       How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT3003?

o   This book connects with this course by focusing on a moving forward mindset. Her preach is that successful people come from those who enjoy failure, and solving the problem. One of the hardest things for entrepreneurs is encountering failure and this book explains how to take the failure in a positive way.

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

o   After reading this book I realized how different the 2 mindsets are. I think a useful exercise would be determining what you can do to make yourself geared more towards the growth side. Maybe through interviews with close friends, we could also find examples of when we succeeded before to apply it to the reading.

-       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?

o   Realizing how many examples of when people used the mindset to their ability. Quotes by Alex Rodriguez and Benjamin Barber give easy interpretations of the main concept. Proving how important your mindset in can be empowering if used correctly.

20A - social capital

Assignment 20A – Growing your social capital

Domain Expert

1.     Who they are, what their background is:

·      Gregg, parking supervisor at UF

2.     How this person is a Domain Expert:

·      His daily routine involves going from call to call or from lot to lot on campus.

3.     How I found and contacted this person:

·      I went to the parking office at administration and got his phone number for a quick interview.

4.     Nature of exchange: what they did for me, what is the return expectation:

·      I explained the proposal for expanded parking and read him some responses and personal stories I received from interviewees. He expressed his knowledge of the problem and just said that technically the parking system is as good as it can be at the moment but these opportunities still exist.

5.     How will including them enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity:

·      Knowing that the officials I would have to reach are aware of the problem is both good and bad. The fact that they don’t see a perfect way to fix the solution also shows that they haven’t understood the true nature of the issue which is student attitude and safety which at this moment could be improved.

Market Expert

6.     Who they are, what their background is:

·      Sarvar, a daily commuter

7.     How this person is a Market Expert:

·      I wasn’t able to locate anyone who does this type of market research, but Sarvar is a 5^th year senior, who has driven a car, scooter, and now rides his bike to campus.

8.     How I found and contacted this person:

·      I saw him getting frustrated riding his bike through a scooter parking lot with the jammed-up mess.

9.     Nature of exchange: what they did for me, what is the return expectation:

·      He expressed his reasoning behind riding his bike now, and it is due to the troubles of dealing with parking. He said after a few months last year he had to go without a scooter because it was broken after sitting in the parking lot and he purchased a bike instead of getting the scooter fixed.

10.  How will including them enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity:

·      He is a perfect example of the parking and troubles of the parking lot negatively affecting a student’s life. Although a bike is less comfortable, not dealing with the parking is enough for him to switch.

Industry Supplier

11.  Who they are, what their background is:

·      Louis, a member of the transportation and parking services

12.  How this person is an industry supplier:

·      He administers decals and handles any changes made to parking structures.

13.  How I found and contacted this person:

·      I was able to meet him through Gregg from the previous section.

14.  Nature of exchange: what they did for me, what is the return expectation:

·      They just gave me their ideas and why they haven’t done some of the things that I mentioned. They invited me to email back with any questions.

15.  How will including them enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity:

·      They would be the people reviewing any future plan and would have a large part in the process of expanding the parking lots here at UF. They were welcoming to the assignment and I believe hearing some of the interviews helped them understand the nature of the issue.