Risk assesment

Today I feel like this... Juggling options and assignments. Balancing my BIP courses and my other responsibilities. 

There is a mantra flying around our class at DCU Ryan Academy and that is " Fail early, Fail cheap,  and fail fast". My personal motto for the past 29 years has been "Plan and prepare, or prepare to fail" with a much more negative connotation on the word FAIL. I am not comfortable with failing at my goals (personal or academic), I am even more uncomfortable with the idea of failing at work or in completing a project. I am trying to listen to the ideology behind the "fail fast" mantra and can understand where it fits into the Ideate stage or project development. But it's going to be a while until I personally give up a "dead-horse" idea!

What about people who are told time after time that they will fail, sometimes by numerous  businesses, but persevere with their idea and take it to the next company pitch, to the next inventors forum, and the next dragons' den. What about passion? What about drive? Will they not succeed if they have a product they believe in? I have been led to believe (thanks to Disney story telling and positive-thinking career counsellors) that I can do ANYTHING if I put my mind to it. If I put my energy and time into a silly project, will I still fail? I think the sceptic in me would say " Yes, but you are too clever  to support a silly project!". I fear that the influence of others could  sway my decision making when supporting a project or idea, especially as I enter this new field of marketing which I unabashedly admit to know very little about. 

 The real story here is that I have never personally had to back a project with my own funding. With my own money at risk, or indeed my company's money at risk, would I be so understanding of a project that doesn't produce profits? 

I'm juggling with these ideas today. 

Assignment: Swedish Design and Innovation

As I sit down (on an Ikea 'Geff' chair at my Ikea 'Meuble' desk) to begin my first PROPER assignment for DCU, I am finding myself slipping back into old habits. Old study habits that is. I sat down at 1pm this afternoon with an entire afternoon set aside to Creativity & Innovation ( as the course title suggests) but have not really been creative or innovative in my study methods. Instead I have:

•  made a cup of tea (steeped to perfect I might add)
• called my sister-in-law to chat about babies
• browsed Facebook for friends up-to-the-minute posts
• reviewed last nights Twitter chats with classmates (informative and possibly drunken?) 
• organised my binder of papers from last weeks class.

I have a designated study space in the spare bedroom which is nicely lit by natural lighting and a power-save light bulb. I have a clear head and feel quite determined to finish at least my research portion for this Ikea project. However, my old study procrastination routine has crept back in to existence after nearly three years away from academia. How can I have learned nothing from past mistakes?! Am I doomed like the Titanic project (great workshop with David Staunton on Wednesday) ?! 

Now I'm tempted to logon to Moodle and peruse the forum post.....

First Post

After 2 weeks into the DCU Business Innovation Programme, my head is swimming with facts and marketing jargon. For example,

• there were more than 150 million births worldwide in 2013
• China will soon become the number one English speaking country in the world
• 1 in every 2 workers in the US has been with their current company for less than 5 years
• Apple ousted Coca Cola as the leading brand in the UK in 2013 

Some of the jargon and new vocabulary I have learned includes: 

• clickthrough
• Reach
• Trending
• hashtag
• PESTLE
• SWOT
• Branding

There have also been some interesting revelations about what type of learner I am, what personality traits I have, and what role I may assume when working in a group. After completing three exercises including "Test of a Leader" (Driscoll and Eckstein),

• I can identify with the characteristics of a Tiger: aggressive, enterprising and ambitious
• I can identify with the characteristics of an Eagle: Independent, Clear thinking, Egotistic
• I can call myself a TiGle. 
• In a team, I will probably become the Chairperson or a Shaper of the group. 
• I can call myself a Chairper.

All in all, a very engaging and educational two weeks! Looking forward to more......