Business 1050
My Renaissance Essay
My Renaissance
period of hiatus. This has come in the form of entire civilizations going through a renaissance, or even an
individual going through one; my own personal renaissance is one of returning to school after an
extended period of not doing so. Returning to school was very important to me because I knew it would
Going into a business course, one would ordinarily assume the topics discussed should at least
seem business related. I have to admit, after I did my first assignment for this class I found myself asking
"what does any of this have to do with business?" I then peaked at the list of remaining assignments for
the semester and again, found myself asking "what does physics, or writings by Plato, Adam Smith, or
the Vikings have to do with business?" The topic material seemed a bit strange to me and did not
necessarily scream "business". Upon diving deeper into the assignments and readings, I found my
Business is unique in a sense that certain factors for success in business can also bring about
success if applied in other sectors. This point rings particularly strong in the reading of The Art of War
authored by Sun Tzu. Sun Tzu was a very skilled general. Both in battle, and in devising tactics and
strategizing for battles. In The Art of War, Sun Tzu states that if you give him an army that is
disciplined, high trained, consistent in both reward and punishment, diligently prepares both physically
and mentally, and has both tactics and strategy in place, he will give you the winning army. The same
could be said for any business. A business that is disciplined, highly trained, consistent in their work and
has a plan and strategy in place is a business that is more properly setup for success. This chapter really
provided some outside insight I did not previously have on how business extends beyond what most
people refer to as business. The reading on the Art of War was one of my favorite reading
Tommy Gaertner
Business 1050
My Renaissance Essay
assignments for this course. It was an extremely interesting perspective on both business and battle and
Another subject of discussion that initially struck me as unrelated to business was the theory of
natural selection. I very much enjoyed this reading because it really changed my opinions and
perspective on my initial point of view. When someone talks about natural selection, we tend to think
about nature and do not often associate it with business. In business however, natural selection is rather
evident. Just like in nature, in business, there if life and death (success and failure). There is also an
element of diversity in business in a sense that multiple types of business and competition exist. The
businesses that succeed do so because they possess certain qualities or characteristics which give them
an advantage over their competitors. These advantages possessed by business are similar to the
advantages that more dominant aspects of nature possess in order to thrive. Since the ultimate success
of failure of a business is predicated on a variety of factors, its difficult to have any sort of predictability
in business just as it is with nature. Seeing as how my ultimate goal for school is to obtain a degree in
business, I feel this chapter certainly added value by providing a very interesting outside perspective on
how business and how it extends beyond what most people would refer to as business.
Throughout the history of business as well as in modern day business, critical thinking has
always provided a major contribution. Edward Engh labeled critical thinking as the most important tool
ever devised. With the use of critical thinking, someone can see both the opportunity and also the
danger or risk in something. This is crucial in business, as many risks lead to a reduction of profits.
Businesses must ensure that critical thinking is applied in any decision made due to the potential
outcomes which could follow This was another reading that appealed to me more so than the rest.
Throughout my own renaissance experience, critical thinking was required from the beginning to the
end; it was needed in order to determine a plan for my education. It is needed now while I am in school
Tommy Gaertner
Business 1050
My Renaissance Essay
executing my plan. And it will continue to be required after my schooling is complete and I am working
in my desired field.
Having now gone through all the readings for this course in a detailed manner, it is clear that all
of them are in fact related to business. It is also clear why they were chosen for this specific course. The
combination of readings included provided an excellent insight into the foundation of business, and how
certain aspects of business varied from society to society and era to era.