1) Andrew Carnegie's success as a businessman blew my mind. Of course it took him a while, but what surprised me the most is that he was able to successfully pull off a full vertical integration of the steel production process. I admired Carnegie's tenacity more than anything else. After his family finally made it to the U.S, he began working at the age of 13. I couldn't pull anything from the reading that I "least admire" about Carnegie, but some reports speak of his Machiavellian behavior and inability to recognize the discord between his perception of himself and other people's perception of him. Carnegie's biggest adversity was rising out of poverty. After that, he became the richest man in the world.
2) Carnegie had amazing drive. He never quit because of the passion that grew from when he was in poverty.
3) Because I understood Carnegie's story, not much was very confusing. I felt that, because it was a fairly lengthy biography, it became cumbersome at times to take in the information. However, it was overall very straightforward.
4) I would first ask Mr. Carnegie if he had any regrets about his climb to the top. Usually, someone with that much self-earned power may have cut ties that they wish they hadn't. After that, I would ask more about his excellent execution of vertical integration. In economics, U.S. History, World History, and many others, he is the leading example of this method of monopolizing an industry. Apparently, he was the first to implement a full vertical integration of the company and it seems to have been almost flawless. I would ask him questions about how to run a company with that many different divisions. As the most powerful man in the company, he has to closely monitor every individual division of it in order to keep that power and keep the company successful.
5) Carnegie bled, sweated, and breathed hard work. Like I said earlier, he had to climb out of extreme poverty. At this point in my life, I don't share the same intense passion for hard work, because I have never had to work as hard as he did. I'm not saying I don't work hard or don't agree that hard work is the best way to become successful, but his work ethic was on a level that hardly anyone can compare to. That's why he was the richest man in the world.
You did an excellent job reviewing and understanding Carnegie's story. I am with you that I don't share the same passion for hard work because I never came from poverty; however, I still do work hard. A person I might find to be similar to him today would be Bill Gates. Gates, instead, strives for learning, reading every day for I think two hours or something. Furthermore, Gates utilizes all 24 hours in a day to learning and becoming more and more successful. So, one might say that Gates and Carnegie could be quite similar.
ReplyDeleteIt’s crazy to think that an individual who begins his life at the bottom of the social ladder can end up being at the highest point at the end of his life. Andrew Carnegie personifies what capitalism is all about. Having that one chance and making the most from it was what he was so successful in doing and as you say repeatedly, he did this thanks to all his hard work and dedication. Being able to see the opportunity and really take control of it as he did with the steel industry is mind blowing still to this day.
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