瞭解顧客心中的保留價格，然後訂出一個好價格。
SAP AG 於 2005 年收購 Khimetrics、並將之納入 ERP (enterprise resource planning) 軟體中；Oracle 收購 Retek 和 ProfitLogic；IBM 於 2011 年以 4 億 4 千萬美元收購 Demandtec。在低毛利的零售業和緊縮的經濟環境下，這些軟體所提供的分析能力愈顯重要。
具體成效？
"Demandtec claims that a pilot study conducted with a drugstore chain managed to increase profitability by 430 basis points, whereas ProfitLogic’s markdown solution increased ShopKo’s gross margins by 24 per cent, cut labour cost by 24 per cent and increased sell-through rates by 5 per cent.＂
"The recommended strategy was successfully implemented in early 2008, earning rich dividends for the company, increasing profitability by 70 per cent, revenue by 3 per cent, EBIT by 8.5 per cent, and positively impacting its brand ranking." (1)
(1) Ashish Sinha and Anna Sahgal, Retail revenue optimization: The past, the present and the future, Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, Volume 11, Issue 3, May 2012, pp. 319-321. (www)
5/29/2012
為什麼會有大學？
三種理論。
出自於陳家煜先生的 blog 1 和 2 (共有七篇)
第一種理論，是接近古典高等教育那種菁英培訓所。因為高育資源有限，而且社會需要一個機制把菁英從一般民眾中分出，然後加以培育，將來才能領導國家、社會。而大學教育和其相關的入學程序，就像是一個篩子一樣，要可以選出好壞。
第二類看法是人力資本 (human capital) 因為大學教育而提高。用簡單的生產力看法，僱主會給生產力較高的員工相對較高的薪資，而如果大學生因為大學教育而有較高的生產力，那大學紅利的逐漸拉高，可以解釋得通。
第三種大學教育理論，「大學教育應該是職業訓練所。」(1)
原文 Louis Menand, Why we have college, New Yorker, June 6, 2011.
(1) 使用英文課本教作業研究，除了第三種功能外，還可以增加第二種功能的英文閱讀和邏輯思考。
出自於陳家煜先生的 blog 1 和 2 (共有七篇)
第一種理論，是接近古典高等教育那種菁英培訓所。因為高育資源有限，而且社會需要一個機制把菁英從一般民眾中分出，然後加以培育，將來才能領導國家、社會。而大學教育和其相關的入學程序，就像是一個篩子一樣，要可以選出好壞。
第二類看法是人力資本 (human capital) 因為大學教育而提高。用簡單的生產力看法，僱主會給生產力較高的員工相對較高的薪資，而如果大學生因為大學教育而有較高的生產力，那大學紅利的逐漸拉高，可以解釋得通。
第三種大學教育理論，「大學教育應該是職業訓練所。」(1)
原文 Louis Menand, Why we have college, New Yorker, June 6, 2011.
(1) 使用英文課本教作業研究，除了第三種功能外，還可以增加第二種功能的英文閱讀和邏輯思考。
5/28/2012
宏達電的訂單管理
天下雜誌 494 期報導宏達電的 4 大改變，以拚突圍，逆轉勝的關鍵在四大策略改變上。分別為產品線簡化、聚焦，併購「商業生態系統」，滿足使用者感官的「體驗」，和深化供應鏈合作關係。
改變二的併購「商業生態系統」中提及，供應商質疑「宏達電全球運籌能力必須改善，採購訂單預估很不準確，有時後差到五、六倍」。
首先，採購訂單應該屬於改變一的產品線或改變四的供應鏈，而不是改變二。
根據表一的出貨量，2009 年是 1000 萬隻左右，2010 年超過 2000 萬，2011 年不到 4500 千萬，年成長率分別為 2 和 2.5 倍。如果使用指數平滑法 (exponential smoothing) 也不可能得到五、六倍的結果。
另外一個原因是缺貨，導致 HTC 提高訂貨預估量。例如自由時報 2012-4-24 報導「高通 28 奈米晶片短缺 宏達電吃虧」，因「晶片短缺可能持續到第三季」，所以「宏達電的 One S 系列（3G 版）因為 8260a 供應不足，已在另尋貨源」。但是，全球智慧型手機 2010 年成長幅度 75.7% ，2011 年比 2010 年成長了 61.3% (1)，上游的供應商會因此相信宏達電的需求預測？是供應商說錯了嗎？
所以比較可能的原因是再往上游的供應商，主零件中的小零件，因為短缺產生的重覆訂單，也就是長鞭效應 (bullwhip effect)，詳見 Goncalves 教授的博士論文 (2)。解決的方法很多，例如資訊分享，可以參見供應鏈管理的文獻 (3)。
後記：朋友有趣的評論
楊浩青老師：『應該是某些訂單 (非整體訂單) 的變動，例如某產品料的需求在不同時期的增減量，或需求量在前後時間移動，若需求量小，變動大，則變動率是有可能很大。』
許志祿先生：『我覺得供應商可能沒有亂說，因為 HTC 是機海戰術，假設 HTC 一年出 10 個機子，各別產品線，如果訂單不符合預期 (賣太差或太好)，就會砍單或加單，而你舉的是全部機種的總出貨量，即使是 HTC overbooking，也不可能會下單與出貨差到 5、6 倍，除非是其市調太樂觀，像華碩的 E-PC，堆了許多存貨，所以我猜測是各別機種銷貨不佳(因 HTC 最近市佔率下跌很多)，導致該機種供應商出貨落差到 5、6 倍，假如個別機種都是用共用料，預測是不可能差到 5、6 倍的，如果這麼樂觀，此市場人員應該被 Fire 了』
(1) IDC：去年全球智慧型手機出貨成長 61.3%
(2) Paulo Goncalves, Demand Bubbles and Phantom Orders in Supply Chains, MIT PhD Dissertation, 2003.
(3) 例如
S. Chopra and P. Meindl, Supply Chain Management, Prentice Hall, 3rd edition, 2007.
H.L. Lee, V. Padmanabhan, and S. Whang, Comments on“Information distortion in a supply chain: The bullwhip effect,” Management Science, 2004, Vol. 50, No. 12, Supplement, pp. 1887-1893.
D. Simchi-Levi, P. Kaminsky, and E. Simchi-Levi, Designing and Managing the Supply Chain, McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 3rd edition, 2007.
O.A.C. Torres and F. V. Moran, Editors, The Bullwhip Effect in Supply Chains: A Review of Methods, Components and Cases, Palgrave Macmillan, 2006.
改變二的併購「商業生態系統」中提及，供應商質疑「宏達電全球運籌能力必須改善，採購訂單預估很不準確，有時後差到五、六倍」。
首先，採購訂單應該屬於改變一的產品線或改變四的供應鏈，而不是改變二。
根據表一的出貨量，2009 年是 1000 萬隻左右，2010 年超過 2000 萬，2011 年不到 4500 千萬，年成長率分別為 2 和 2.5 倍。如果使用指數平滑法 (exponential smoothing) 也不可能得到五、六倍的結果。
另外一個原因是缺貨，導致 HTC 提高訂貨預估量。例如自由時報 2012-4-24 報導「高通 28 奈米晶片短缺 宏達電吃虧」，因「晶片短缺可能持續到第三季」，所以「宏達電的 One S 系列（3G 版）因為 8260a 供應不足，已在另尋貨源」。但是，全球智慧型手機 2010 年成長幅度 75.7% ，2011 年比 2010 年成長了 61.3% (1)，上游的供應商會因此相信宏達電的需求預測？是供應商說錯了嗎？
所以比較可能的原因是再往上游的供應商，主零件中的小零件，因為短缺產生的重覆訂單，也就是長鞭效應 (bullwhip effect)，詳見 Goncalves 教授的博士論文 (2)。解決的方法很多，例如資訊分享，可以參見供應鏈管理的文獻 (3)。
後記：朋友有趣的評論
楊浩青老師：『應該是某些訂單 (非整體訂單) 的變動，例如某產品料的需求在不同時期的增減量，或需求量在前後時間移動，若需求量小，變動大，則變動率是有可能很大。』
許志祿先生：『我覺得供應商可能沒有亂說，因為 HTC 是機海戰術，假設 HTC 一年出 10 個機子，各別產品線，如果訂單不符合預期 (賣太差或太好)，就會砍單或加單，而你舉的是全部機種的總出貨量，即使是 HTC overbooking，也不可能會下單與出貨差到 5、6 倍，除非是其市調太樂觀，像華碩的 E-PC，堆了許多存貨，所以我猜測是各別機種銷貨不佳(因 HTC 最近市佔率下跌很多)，導致該機種供應商出貨落差到 5、6 倍，假如個別機種都是用共用料，預測是不可能差到 5、6 倍的，如果這麼樂觀，此市場人員應該被 Fire 了』
(1) IDC：去年全球智慧型手機出貨成長 61.3%
(2) Paulo Goncalves, Demand Bubbles and Phantom Orders in Supply Chains, MIT PhD Dissertation, 2003.
(3) 例如
S. Chopra and P. Meindl, Supply Chain Management, Prentice Hall, 3rd edition, 2007.
H.L. Lee, V. Padmanabhan, and S. Whang, Comments on“Information distortion in a supply chain: The bullwhip effect,” Management Science, 2004, Vol. 50, No. 12, Supplement, pp. 1887-1893.
D. Simchi-Levi, P. Kaminsky, and E. Simchi-Levi, Designing and Managing the Supply Chain, McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 3rd edition, 2007.
O.A.C. Torres and F. V. Moran, Editors, The Bullwhip Effect in Supply Chains: A Review of Methods, Components and Cases, Palgrave Macmillan, 2006.
5/27/2012
5/23/2012
給自己十樣人生禮物 -- 公益旅行經驗談
剛聽完學校服學中心舉辦的演講，褚士瑩先生提出十件年輕時要做的事情，透過生動有趣的內容傳達一些重要的觀念。
演講最後，褚先生分享其座右銘：
甘地 (Mahatma Gandhi)「成為你在世上想見到的改變」(Be the change you want to see in the world.)
10 樣人生禮物中，你做了幾樣？
褚先生的 blog，寫給年少的自己，2011/08/25
1 到海外去長住至少三個月，
2 找到一個可以從事一輩子的運動，
3 交十個值得交往一輩子的朋友，
4 趁早培養對美和藝術的欣賞能力，
5 永遠不要失去學習和閱讀的習慣，
6 失去一個最愛的人，陪伴他最後一程，並且從此活兩個人份的生命，
7 成為某種專家—甚麼專家都可以，
8 在世界的光譜上找到自己的位置，全盤接受、並且開始喜歡自己，
9 學習用雙手製作東西，
10 隨時隨地可以有效輕易清楚表達自己的意思。
書籍資訊：褚士瑩，給自己 10 樣人生禮物：成就動詞型的生命地圖就在這10個關鍵，大田出版，2012。
演講最後，褚先生分享其座右銘：
甘地 (Mahatma Gandhi)「成為你在世上想見到的改變」(Be the change you want to see in the world.)
10 樣人生禮物中，你做了幾樣？
褚先生的 blog，寫給年少的自己，2011/08/25
1 到海外去長住至少三個月，
2 找到一個可以從事一輩子的運動，
3 交十個值得交往一輩子的朋友，
4 趁早培養對美和藝術的欣賞能力，
5 永遠不要失去學習和閱讀的習慣，
6 失去一個最愛的人，陪伴他最後一程，並且從此活兩個人份的生命，
7 成為某種專家—甚麼專家都可以，
8 在世界的光譜上找到自己的位置，全盤接受、並且開始喜歡自己，
9 學習用雙手製作東西，
10 隨時隨地可以有效輕易清楚表達自己的意思。
書籍資訊：褚士瑩，給自己 10 樣人生禮物：成就動詞型的生命地圖就在這10個關鍵，大田出版，2012。
失敗為成功之母
這句話我們從小就知道。
底下這篇文章有趣的地方在於其例子，例如愛因斯坦 (Albert Einstein) 是全班唯一沒有找到教職的，其中一位老師覺得他是最懶惰的狗 (laziest dog)；貝多芬（Ludwig van Beethoven) 的音樂老師告訴其父母，貝多芬因太笨將無法成為一位作曲家。
對於大四正在找工作的同學們，不知道是否有從這些故事得到啟示？
Famous Failures
By Michael Michalko
May 11, 2012
Synopsis: You have to learn how to fail in order to succeed. Here are some famous failures from history.
When people speak of a “fear of failure,” they are really describing a hazy free-floating malaise and feeling of worry or discontent which induces lethargy and explains lack of effort. This malaise protects us from the anxiety that comes with freedom and taking risks. We tranquilize our lives by limiting the amount of anxiety that we experience by not trying anything new or different that might fail.
Whenever we attempt to do something and fail, we end up doing something else or producing something else. You have not failed; you have produced some other result. The two most important questions to ask are: “What have I learned?” and “What have I done?”
Failure is only a word that human beings use to judge a given situation. Instead of fearing failure, we should learn that failures, mistakes and errors are the way we learn and the way we grow. Many of the world’s greatest successes have learned how to fail their way to success. Some of the more famous are:
• Albert Einstein: Most of us take Einstein's name as synonymous with genius, but he didn't always show such promise. Einstein did not speak until he was four and did not read until he was seven, causing his teachers and parents to think he was mentally handicapped, slow and anti-social. Eventually, he was expelled from school and was refused admittance to the Zurich Polytechnic School. He attended a trade school for one year and was finally admitted to the University. He was the only one of his graduating class unable to get a teaching position because no professor would recommend him. One professor labeled him as the laziest dog they ever had in the university. The only job he was able to get was an entry-level position in a government patent office.
• Robert Goddard: Goddard today is hailed for his research and experimentation with liquid-fueled rockets, but during his lifetime his ideas were often rejected and mocked by his scientific peers who thought they were outrageous and impossible. The New York Times once reported that Goddard seemed to lack a high school student’s basic understanding of rocketry. Today rockets and space travel don't seem far-fetched at all, due largely in part to the work of this scientist who worked against the feelings of the time.
• Abraham Lincoln: While today he is remembered as one of the greatest leaders of our nation, Lincoln's life wasn't so easy. In his youth he went to war a captain and returned a private (if you're not familiar with military ranks, just know that private is as low as it goes.) Lincoln didn't stop failing there, however. He started numerous failed businesses, went bankrupt twice and was defeated in 26 campaigns he made for public office.
• J. K. Rowling: Rowling may be rolling in a lot of Harry Potter dough today, but before she published the series of novels, she was nearly penniless, severely depressed, divorced, trying to raise a child on her own while attending school and writing a novel. Rowling went from depending on welfare to survive to being one of the richest women in the world in a span of only five years through her hard work and determination.
• Walt Disney: Today Disney rakes in billions from merchandise, movies and theme parks around the world, but Walt Disney had many personal failures. He was fired by a newspaper editor because, "he lacked imagination and had no good ideas." After that, Disney started a number of businesses that didn't last too long and ended with bankruptcy and failure. He kept trying and learning, however, and eventually found a recipe for success that worked.
• Harland David Sanders: Perhaps better known as Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame, Sanders had a hard time selling his chicken at first. In fact, his famous secret chicken recipe was rejected 1,009 times before a restaurant accepted it. He learned not to fear rejection and persevered.
• Thomas Edison: In his early years, teachers told Edison he was "too stupid to learn anything." Work was no better, as he was fired from his first two jobs for not being productive enough. Even as an inventor, Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. One day, an assistant asked him why he didn’t give up. After all, he failed over a thousand times. Edison replied that he had not failed once. He had discovered over 1000 things that don’t work.
• Ludwig van Beethoven: In his formative years, young Beethoven was incredibly awkward on the violin and was often so busy working on his own compositions that he neglected to practice. Despite his love of composing, his teachers felt he was hopeless at it and would never succeed with the violin or in composing. In fact, his music teacher told his parents he was too stupid to be a music composer.
• Michael Jordan: Most people wouldn't believe that a man often lauded as the best basketball player of all time was actually cut from his high school basketball team. Luckily, Jordan didn't let this setback stop him from playing the game and he has stated, "I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot, and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."
• Stephen King: The first book by this author, the iconic thriller Carrie, received 30 rejections, finally causing King to give up and throw it in the trash. His wife fished it out and encouraged him to resubmit it, and the rest is history, with King now having hundreds of books published and the distinction of being one of the best-selling authors of all time.
• Bill Gates: Gates didn't seem destined for success after dropping out of Harvard. He started a business with Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen called Traf-O-Data. While this early idea for a business failed miserably, Gates did not despair and give up. Instead he learned much from the failure and later created the global empire that is Microsoft.
• Henry Ford: While Ford is today known for his innovative assembly line and American-made cars, he wasn't an instant success. In fact, his early businesses failed and left him broke five times. He was advised by countless people not to get into the manufacturing of automobiles because he had neither the capital or know how.
• F. W. Woolworth: Some may not know this name today, but Woolworth was once one of the biggest names in department stores in the U.S. Before starting his own business, young Woolworth worked at a dry goods store and was not allowed to wait on customers because his boss said he lacked the sense needed to do so. Woolworth also had many ideas of how to market dry goods - all of which were rejected by his boss. His marketing ideas became the foundation of his phenomenal retail success with his own stores.
• Akio Morita: You may not have heard of Morita but you've undoubtedly heard of his company, Sony. Sony's first product was a rice cooker that unfortunately didn't cook rice so much as burn it, selling less than 100 units. The rice cooker was the object of scorn and laughter by the business community. This did not discourage Morita and his partners as they pushed forward to create a multi-billion dollar company.
• Orville and Wilbur Wright: These brothers battled depression and family illness before starting the bicycle shop that would lead them to experimenting with flight. They were competing against the best engineering and scientific minds in America at the time, who were all well financed and supported by the government and capital investors to make the first airplane. After numerous attempts at creating flying machines, several years of hard work, and tons of failed prototypes, the brothers finally created a plane that could get airborne and stay there.
• Vincent Van Gogh: During his lifetime, Van Gogh sold only one painting, and this was to a friend and only for a very small amount of money. While Van Gogh was never a success during his life, he plugged on with painting, sometimes starving to complete his over 800 known works. Today, they bring in hundreds of millions of dollars each.
• Fred Astaire: In his first screen test, the testing director of MGM noted that Astaire "Can't act. Can't sing. Slightly bald. Not handsome. Can dance a little." Astaire went on to become an incredibly successful actor, singer and dancer and kept that note in his Beverly Hills home to remind him of where he came from.
• Steven Spielberg: While today Spielberg's name is synonymous with big budget, he was rejected from the University of Southern California School of Theater, Film and Television three times. He eventually attended school at another location, only to drop out to become a director before finishing. Thirty-five years after starting his degree, Spielberg returned to school in 2002 to finally complete his work and earn his BA.
• Charles Darwin was chastised by his father for being lazy and too dreamy. Darwin himself once wrote that his father and teachers considered him rather below the common standard of intellect. When Charles Darwin first presented his research on evolution, it was met with little enthusiasm. He continued to work on his theory of evolution when all of his colleagues called him a fool and what he was doing “a fool’s experiment.”
The artist genius of the ages is Michelangelo. His competitor’s once tried to set him up for failure or force him to forgo a commission because of the possibility of failure. Michelangelo's competitors persuaded Junius II to assign to him a relatively obscure and difficult project. It was to fresco the ceiling of a private chapel. The chapel had already been copiously decorated with frescoes by many talented artists. Michelangelo would be commissioned to decorate the tunnel-vaulted ceiling. In this way, his rivals thought they would divert his energies from sculpture, in which they realized he was supreme. This, they argued, would make things hopeless for him, since he had no experience in fresco, he would certainly, they believed, do amateurish work as a painter. Without doubt, they thought, he would be compared unfavorably with Raphael, and even if the work were a success, being forced to do it would make him angry with the Pope, and thus one way or another they would succeed in their purpose of getting rid of him.
Michelangelo, protesting that painting was not his art, still took on the project. In every way it was a challenging task. He had never used color, nor had he painted in fresco. He executed the frescos in great discomfort, having to work with his face looking upwards, which impaired his sight so badly that he could not read or look at drawings save with his head turned backwards, and this lasted for several months. In that awkward curved space, Michelangelo managed to depict the history of the Earth from the Creation to Noah, surrounded by ancestors and prophets of Jesus and finally revealing the liberation of the soul. His enemies had stage managed the masterpiece that quickly established him as the artist genius of the age.
底下這篇文章有趣的地方在於其例子，例如愛因斯坦 (Albert Einstein) 是全班唯一沒有找到教職的，其中一位老師覺得他是最懶惰的狗 (laziest dog)；貝多芬（Ludwig van Beethoven) 的音樂老師告訴其父母，貝多芬因太笨將無法成為一位作曲家。
對於大四正在找工作的同學們，不知道是否有從這些故事得到啟示？
Famous Failures
By Michael Michalko
May 11, 2012
Synopsis: You have to learn how to fail in order to succeed. Here are some famous failures from history.
When people speak of a “fear of failure,” they are really describing a hazy free-floating malaise and feeling of worry or discontent which induces lethargy and explains lack of effort. This malaise protects us from the anxiety that comes with freedom and taking risks. We tranquilize our lives by limiting the amount of anxiety that we experience by not trying anything new or different that might fail.
Whenever we attempt to do something and fail, we end up doing something else or producing something else. You have not failed; you have produced some other result. The two most important questions to ask are: “What have I learned?” and “What have I done?”
Failure is only a word that human beings use to judge a given situation. Instead of fearing failure, we should learn that failures, mistakes and errors are the way we learn and the way we grow. Many of the world’s greatest successes have learned how to fail their way to success. Some of the more famous are:
• Albert Einstein: Most of us take Einstein's name as synonymous with genius, but he didn't always show such promise. Einstein did not speak until he was four and did not read until he was seven, causing his teachers and parents to think he was mentally handicapped, slow and anti-social. Eventually, he was expelled from school and was refused admittance to the Zurich Polytechnic School. He attended a trade school for one year and was finally admitted to the University. He was the only one of his graduating class unable to get a teaching position because no professor would recommend him. One professor labeled him as the laziest dog they ever had in the university. The only job he was able to get was an entry-level position in a government patent office.
• Robert Goddard: Goddard today is hailed for his research and experimentation with liquid-fueled rockets, but during his lifetime his ideas were often rejected and mocked by his scientific peers who thought they were outrageous and impossible. The New York Times once reported that Goddard seemed to lack a high school student’s basic understanding of rocketry. Today rockets and space travel don't seem far-fetched at all, due largely in part to the work of this scientist who worked against the feelings of the time.
• Abraham Lincoln: While today he is remembered as one of the greatest leaders of our nation, Lincoln's life wasn't so easy. In his youth he went to war a captain and returned a private (if you're not familiar with military ranks, just know that private is as low as it goes.) Lincoln didn't stop failing there, however. He started numerous failed businesses, went bankrupt twice and was defeated in 26 campaigns he made for public office.
• J. K. Rowling: Rowling may be rolling in a lot of Harry Potter dough today, but before she published the series of novels, she was nearly penniless, severely depressed, divorced, trying to raise a child on her own while attending school and writing a novel. Rowling went from depending on welfare to survive to being one of the richest women in the world in a span of only five years through her hard work and determination.
• Walt Disney: Today Disney rakes in billions from merchandise, movies and theme parks around the world, but Walt Disney had many personal failures. He was fired by a newspaper editor because, "he lacked imagination and had no good ideas." After that, Disney started a number of businesses that didn't last too long and ended with bankruptcy and failure. He kept trying and learning, however, and eventually found a recipe for success that worked.
• Harland David Sanders: Perhaps better known as Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame, Sanders had a hard time selling his chicken at first. In fact, his famous secret chicken recipe was rejected 1,009 times before a restaurant accepted it. He learned not to fear rejection and persevered.
• Thomas Edison: In his early years, teachers told Edison he was "too stupid to learn anything." Work was no better, as he was fired from his first two jobs for not being productive enough. Even as an inventor, Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. One day, an assistant asked him why he didn’t give up. After all, he failed over a thousand times. Edison replied that he had not failed once. He had discovered over 1000 things that don’t work.
• Ludwig van Beethoven: In his formative years, young Beethoven was incredibly awkward on the violin and was often so busy working on his own compositions that he neglected to practice. Despite his love of composing, his teachers felt he was hopeless at it and would never succeed with the violin or in composing. In fact, his music teacher told his parents he was too stupid to be a music composer.
• Michael Jordan: Most people wouldn't believe that a man often lauded as the best basketball player of all time was actually cut from his high school basketball team. Luckily, Jordan didn't let this setback stop him from playing the game and he has stated, "I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot, and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."
• Stephen King: The first book by this author, the iconic thriller Carrie, received 30 rejections, finally causing King to give up and throw it in the trash. His wife fished it out and encouraged him to resubmit it, and the rest is history, with King now having hundreds of books published and the distinction of being one of the best-selling authors of all time.
• Bill Gates: Gates didn't seem destined for success after dropping out of Harvard. He started a business with Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen called Traf-O-Data. While this early idea for a business failed miserably, Gates did not despair and give up. Instead he learned much from the failure and later created the global empire that is Microsoft.
• Henry Ford: While Ford is today known for his innovative assembly line and American-made cars, he wasn't an instant success. In fact, his early businesses failed and left him broke five times. He was advised by countless people not to get into the manufacturing of automobiles because he had neither the capital or know how.
• F. W. Woolworth: Some may not know this name today, but Woolworth was once one of the biggest names in department stores in the U.S. Before starting his own business, young Woolworth worked at a dry goods store and was not allowed to wait on customers because his boss said he lacked the sense needed to do so. Woolworth also had many ideas of how to market dry goods - all of which were rejected by his boss. His marketing ideas became the foundation of his phenomenal retail success with his own stores.
• Akio Morita: You may not have heard of Morita but you've undoubtedly heard of his company, Sony. Sony's first product was a rice cooker that unfortunately didn't cook rice so much as burn it, selling less than 100 units. The rice cooker was the object of scorn and laughter by the business community. This did not discourage Morita and his partners as they pushed forward to create a multi-billion dollar company.
• Orville and Wilbur Wright: These brothers battled depression and family illness before starting the bicycle shop that would lead them to experimenting with flight. They were competing against the best engineering and scientific minds in America at the time, who were all well financed and supported by the government and capital investors to make the first airplane. After numerous attempts at creating flying machines, several years of hard work, and tons of failed prototypes, the brothers finally created a plane that could get airborne and stay there.
• Vincent Van Gogh: During his lifetime, Van Gogh sold only one painting, and this was to a friend and only for a very small amount of money. While Van Gogh was never a success during his life, he plugged on with painting, sometimes starving to complete his over 800 known works. Today, they bring in hundreds of millions of dollars each.
• Fred Astaire: In his first screen test, the testing director of MGM noted that Astaire "Can't act. Can't sing. Slightly bald. Not handsome. Can dance a little." Astaire went on to become an incredibly successful actor, singer and dancer and kept that note in his Beverly Hills home to remind him of where he came from.
• Steven Spielberg: While today Spielberg's name is synonymous with big budget, he was rejected from the University of Southern California School of Theater, Film and Television three times. He eventually attended school at another location, only to drop out to become a director before finishing. Thirty-five years after starting his degree, Spielberg returned to school in 2002 to finally complete his work and earn his BA.
• Charles Darwin was chastised by his father for being lazy and too dreamy. Darwin himself once wrote that his father and teachers considered him rather below the common standard of intellect. When Charles Darwin first presented his research on evolution, it was met with little enthusiasm. He continued to work on his theory of evolution when all of his colleagues called him a fool and what he was doing “a fool’s experiment.”
The artist genius of the ages is Michelangelo. His competitor’s once tried to set him up for failure or force him to forgo a commission because of the possibility of failure. Michelangelo's competitors persuaded Junius II to assign to him a relatively obscure and difficult project. It was to fresco the ceiling of a private chapel. The chapel had already been copiously decorated with frescoes by many talented artists. Michelangelo would be commissioned to decorate the tunnel-vaulted ceiling. In this way, his rivals thought they would divert his energies from sculpture, in which they realized he was supreme. This, they argued, would make things hopeless for him, since he had no experience in fresco, he would certainly, they believed, do amateurish work as a painter. Without doubt, they thought, he would be compared unfavorably with Raphael, and even if the work were a success, being forced to do it would make him angry with the Pope, and thus one way or another they would succeed in their purpose of getting rid of him.
Michelangelo, protesting that painting was not his art, still took on the project. In every way it was a challenging task. He had never used color, nor had he painted in fresco. He executed the frescos in great discomfort, having to work with his face looking upwards, which impaired his sight so badly that he could not read or look at drawings save with his head turned backwards, and this lasted for several months. In that awkward curved space, Michelangelo managed to depict the history of the Earth from the Creation to Noah, surrounded by ancestors and prophets of Jesus and finally revealing the liberation of the soul. His enemies had stage managed the masterpiece that quickly established him as the artist genius of the age.