Elon Musk's management principles includes developing powerful mental models for critical thinking and making good decisions, fostering the strong and exemplary leadership that motivate employees, and working hard while investing in your dreams.
FOSTERING EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP THAT MOTIVATES EMPLOYEES
Elon Musk expects his leadership team “to work harder than those who report to them.”
A team which has the capacity to work cohesively and with the end-goal in mind is an integral part of a company's success.
DEVELOP POWERFUL MENTAL MODELS
Elon Musk explains his innovation success by referring to physics' first principle and finds analogies a reliable way to explainreasoning on any given day.
The first principle of physics is to start at the core of an issue before "reasoning up" resonates with Musk who promotes a critical thinking approach to decision-making using a similar rationale of first seeking to understand the root cause.
"Truly dramatic change" can be achieved by using the first principle of physics when applying critical thinking skills, resulting in greater value with measurable impact.
Process constraints can act as a barrier to innovation, which Musk recognizes and addresses by encouraging staff to think more broadly and break away from traditional approaches in looking for innovative solutions.
In applying a first principle approach, Musk chose not to benchmark the SpaceX rocket program on comparable products, particularly in estimating overall build costs. Instead, the team analyzed the cost of all components that comprise a rocket and, in doing so, found they could build their rockets for as little as 2% of what it cost other companies.
Elon Musk explains his innovation success by referring to physics' first principle and finds analogies a reliable way to explain
The first principle of physics is to start at the core of an issue before "reasoning up" resonates with "Truly dramatic change" can be achieved by using the first principle of physics when applying critical thinking skills, resulting in greater value with measurable impact.
Process constraints can act as a barrier to innovation, which Musk recognizes and addresses by encouraging staff to think more broadly and break away from traditional approaches in looking for innovative solutions.
In applying a first principle approach, Musk chose not to benchmark the SpaceX rocket program on comparable products, particularly in estimating overall build costs. Instead, the team analyzed the cost of all components that comprise a rocket and, in doing so, found they could build their rockets for as little as 2% of what it cost other companies.
FOSTERING EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP THAT MOTIVATES EMPLOYEES
Elon Musk expects his leadership team “to work harder than those who report to them.”
A team which has the capacity to work cohesively and with the end-goal in mind is an integral part of a company's success.
As CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, Musk inspires and engages with his staff by demonstrating to them their individual value within the larger whole, which encourages their loyalty to the company and motivates within them a desire to help the company to succeed.
In excess of 300 SpaceX staff attended each of the first three rocket launches and were visibly upset when the launches failed and the rockets exploded.
Despite the staggering cost of those launch failures of around $260 million, Musk motivated his staff to follow his dream of a succeeding which resulted in the fourth rocket being successfully launched.
Leaders — not managers — truly motivate employees through self-awareness and by understanding the impact of their own behaviors and leadership style. A willingness to adjust their own behaviors and style is something that Musk strongly believes will inspire staff to meet and exceed high performance expectations.
In excess of 300 SpaceX staff attended each of the first three rocket launches and were visibly upset when the launches failed and the rockets exploded.
Despite the staggering cost of those launch failures of around $260 million, Musk motivated his staff to follow his dream of a succeeding which resulted in the fourth rocket being successfully launched.
Leaders — not managers — truly motivate employees through self-awareness and by understanding the impact of their own behaviors and leadership style. A willingness to adjust their own behaviors and style is something that Musk strongly believes will inspire staff to meet and exceed high performance expectations.
Musk claims that “if leaders understand the fundamental principles of what they’re trying to do they can avoid 'building on faulty ground .'” He also feels that leaders should take care of the needs of their staff first.
A key element of Musk's management principles is to focus on having the right people doing the right job because when a person is in a role which is a natural fit for their personality the more likely they are to succeed.
Elon Musk has 3 pieces of advice: hire people who are smarter than you, challenge the status quo and understand the fundamentals of your foundation — what you are doing — before setting your objectives.
WORK HARD TO INVEST IN YOUR DREAMS
Elon Musk has a reputation for working hard. Both he and his brother lived and slept in a small office when they first established what would eventually become PayPal.
When starting SpaceX, Musk thought the odds of success were less than 10 percent, and he just accepted that there was a strong chance he would lose everything. That didn't stop him trying as he firmly believed he could change the world if he just tried.
Musk expects his staff to meet often impossible deadlines and to look for ways to do things better and cheaper, expecting employees to make cost savings of up to 90 percent.
Musk maximizes his productivity by optimizing his time between companies, with a regular week looking like:
Monday: SpaceX in Los Angeles.
Tuesday and Wednesday: Tesla in Palo Alto, CA.
Thursday and half of Friday: back at SpaceX.
Elon Musk has a reputation for working hard. Both he and his brother lived and slept in a small office when they first established what would eventually become PayPal.
When starting SpaceX, Musk thought the odds of success were less than 10 percent, and he just accepted that there was a strong chance he would lose everything. That didn't stop him trying as he firmly believed he could change the world if he just tried.
Musk expects his staff to meet often impossible deadlines and to look for ways to do things better and cheaper, expecting employees to make cost savings of up to 90 percent.
Musk maximizes his productivity by optimizing his time between companies, with a regular week looking like:
Monday: SpaceX in Los Angeles.
Tuesday and Wednesday: Tesla in Palo Alto, CA.
Thursday and half of Friday: back at SpaceX.
Remaining half of Friday: Tesla Design Studio.
Weekends though are spent with family.
There is one thing that every person has ultimate control over and that is their own effort, something which Musk both recognizes and practices.
Musk is quoted as saying a person should “just work like hell. If other people are putting in 40 hour work weeks and you’re putting in 100 hour work weeks, even if you’re doing the same thing, you know that you will achieve in four months what it takes them a year to achieve.”
Weekends though are spent with family.
There is one thing that every person has ultimate control over and that is their own effort, something which Musk both recognizes and practices.
Musk is quoted as saying a person should “just work like hell. If other people are putting in 40 hour work weeks and you’re putting in 100 hour work weeks, even if you’re doing the same thing, you know that you will achieve in four months what it takes them a year to achieve.”