I totally dig the commercial too – it's outrageously melodramatic, but MJ pulls it off just because he's MJ.

Best,
David

I actually have not read Komisar's "Getting to Plan B." A friend of mine told me about it, and I immediately looked it up, jotted down some notes about it, and put it on my list. Unfortunately I'm a little short on spending money these days, and it's too new to have hit the library shelves. This may be for the best, though, since this way I won't get to do what I probably instinctively would have done – babbled all about it and spoiled it for you.

I have read "The Monk and the Riddle" though, also by Randy Komisar, and that was fantastic! If you haven't read it, I definitely recommend you check it out! He talks about the limited use of business plans in that one too – he says they exist simply to show that the founders of a venture had the intelligence and foresight to think about the consequences of their actions – that they at least thought about what they were getting into. It seems to me that entrepreneurship is more about rolling up the sleeves and getting things done than talking about them and planning to get things done, right? (not to marginalize planning or being able to express your ideas, of course)

I hope you enjoy "Getting to Plan B" when you get it! Let me know how it turns out!

Best,
David

Also, generally speaking, I love quotations and very deeply appreciate your integration of thoughts from a variety of scholarly gentlemen in your comment!

Also, generally speaking, I love quotations and very deeply appreciate your integration of thoughts from a variety of scholarly gentlemen in yours!

Also, I love this commercial of MIchael Jordan on failure… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45mMioJ5szc

Tyler from the Unreasonable Institute.

“Plans are too often a straightjacket for innovation. They are built on dreams and assumptions. Without more, they are likely to fail…”

I once sat in on a keynote speech by Leonard Schlesinger, President of Babson College (great school for entrepreneurship), and among the ideas I picked up was something along the lines of “fail fast, fail cheap, and learn from those failures.” Which is exactly what it means to course-correct. Failure is GOOD, if you learn from it and change.

Regarding the 3rd trait, again I’m going to share some ideas I got from Mr. Schlesinger’s keynote speech. He said that entrepreneurs (social entrepreneurs are certainly entrepreneurs) not only find opportunity, but they MAKE opportunity. He spoke of the limits of the scientific method once you enter highly uncertain territory, and how at a certain point all you have left is YOU.

That is, you must use what Emerson called “genius” – the ability to recognize that what is true for yourself is true for everyone This involves inductive reasoning – extrapolating from personal experience to craft a solution that will fit everyone’s needs. And that’s what breaking free from established structure is all about.

I could definitely go on about the other traits, but I feel that they stand very strongly by themselves…

Lastly, a little about me: I am a college dropout currently sleeping on a friend’s couch and working on a social venture with 3 students from Olin College and 1 from Babson. Our goal: help smart driven college students struggling with depression – the “motivated depressed” – overcome the debilitating adversity that is depression.

To that end, I’ve started a depression blog (w/a very unique take), and in doing so invested half of my life savings to purchase the domain name:

NeverSayNever.net

Check it out! If you like it, please help spread the word!

I’m applying for the Unreasonable Institute too, so hopefully I’ll get to know some of you in person soon!

Best,
David