Sir James Dyson: Learning to Achieve Success

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James Dyson who invented the best vacuum cleaner by revenue is a British inventor and industrial designer who believes that success is achieved through hard work, failure and frustrations since it demands putting several things apart before joining them together. James believe in solving problems and use mistakes as a stepping stone to the next level by describing inventor’s life as life full of failures before major achievements. Dyson says that it does not matter how many attempts one makes and that the final product is always a product of the frustrations, attempts and disappointments one goes through in the process (Debra & Quick, 2012).

Dyson’s success is attributed to tireless effort and perseverance towards achievement of an individual’s dream by pushing a little bit harder when things tend to go against them. He asserts that achievement is just around the corner hence giving up is the biggest mistake one can ever make. He claims that everyone was against his idea of coming up with the vacuum cleaner by saying that the clear bin would repulse people but he pressed on with the idea without listening to the people’s view (Cassidy & Kreitner, 2009).

Dyson knew that what were important to him were his instinct and his positive attitude towards failure. Dyson’s idea was initially not achieved positively welcomed by most of the existing manufacturer perhaps because they did not take him serious. Failure to buy his great idea by manufacturers prompted him to pursue his dream alone regardless of the fierce financial and failures demands. Through his sheer determination and perseverance, he came up with 5,127 prototypes within a period of fifteen years without giving up (Debra & Quick, 2012). Dyson’ vacuum cleaners became the best-selling vacuum cleaner in UK within a period 18 months despite the numerous attempts that nearly bankrupted him thus making Dyson an expert and success via hard work and fresh thinking. James Dyson’s wish to make things work better made him develop products that have achieved sales of over $10 billion globally.

Each failure was a lesson Dyson himself learned personally and he has credited tough lessons and a “great attitude to life success. There is no shame in failing but it would be a shame not to learn from it and one great thing someone should do is to protect his idea and this would unleash the winning streak after spate of failings. People like Steve Jobs who heralded as one of the most influential entrepreneurs after tough sailings and fluctuation in sales but perseverance helped him regain control of Apple and catapult it to success (Cassidy & Kreitner, 2009).

Lessons learnt from Sir James Dyson’s success are unending and they are applicable almost in every area of life particularly the start-ups. It is important for an individual to receive opposition from the people around them by not expecting their approval. It is only appropriate to find someone who believes in ones’ idea and the person who would not discourage the innovator or the start up from achieving his dreams but solely boost the accomplishment of the person (Debra & Quick, 2012).. Entrepreneur and start-ups must pursue what they believe in without accepting second best due to unsuccessful attempt of the initial idea. Dyson proved that anyone who works hard without giving up may turn out to be different from what he expected since, like Dyson who started out in speedboats and wanted to run a product design studio ended up as a manufacturer by circumstances (Cassidy & Kreitner, 2009).

The product or service should be kept in charge by ensuring that individuals never get above themselves and believe that they are there because of the idea they have. People should keep their ideas real by strongly believing in their work and idea. Individuals should connect to the brand they design by giving it a quality attachment thus making it spectacular and the business human. It is also apparent from Dyson’s story that someone can start small from the scratch without looking back or being pulled back by peers. Age, financial status and one’s profession is not relevant to success but perseverance and determination is the key to success. Improving on already existing products can be very challenging but very rewarding especially when one makes something that is user friendly and meets the customer’s needs (Cassidy & Kreitner, 2009). People can tap into their talents and skills to achieve success by doing something they love and care about. Generally, indomitable spirit may steer people to take risks, make plenty of mistakes but still continue to pursue their dreams through improving on their failures and having positive attitude towards achievement of success.

References

Cassidy, C., & Kreitner, R. (2009). Supervision: Setting people up for success. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.

Debra, N., & Quick, J. C. (2012). Organizational behavior: Science, the real world, and you. Mason, Ohio: South-Western.