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<\/a>Professor of Marketing and Product Innovation Narongsak (Tek) Thongpapanl delivers the Convocation address Thursday, June 13.<\/p><\/div>\n
The difference, said the Goodman Excellence in Teaching Award recipient, is in what people do after a misstep.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe often focus on success and don\u2019t give enough attention to failures. But if we don\u2019t learn from our mistakes, we\u2019re making it more difficult to achieve success,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Prof. Tek, as he\u2019s known to most of his students, focuses his research on new product development, innovation and technology management, e-commerce, wine marketing and business management, strategic marketing management in high-tech environments, among other topics.<\/p>\n
The multiple-award-winning professor told the Goodman graduands to understand the difference between failures and mistakes.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can only learn from a failure, but you can\u2019t fix it. When you make a mistake, you can learn from it, fix it, and as a result improve yourself,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Thongpapanl encouraged the students to take the road less travelled, putting themselves in a position to make errors or blunders that can be considered interesting or insightful.<\/p>\n
“If you make a mistake, own it,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is a crucial step to learning and improving yourself. People will remember your courage and integrity long after they forget your mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that when a blunder is made, try to understand it, look at it through a lens of self-improvement, and then apply what you\u2019ve learned to prevent it from happening again.<\/p>\n