Tag: Focus

Have you noticed? I have developed a soft spot for my “classmate” Elon Musk:-)

He has shared his views on project management in various contexts and interviews. Here are some key points that he frequently emphasizes – I quote from his biography:

Focus on results: Musk places great importance on achieving concrete results. He is known for prioritizing and focusing on the essentials in order to achieve progress quickly.

From his student days, for example: “…Another focus was on electric cars. He and Ren would often get lunch from a food truck and sit on the campus lawn. Musk also looked at scientific papers on rechargeable batteries. The state of California had just passed a law requiring ten percent of all vehicles to be electric by 2003. “I really want that to happen,” said Musk.”

Agility and adaptability: He promotes flexible and adaptable approaches to project management. In his companies, such as SpaceX and Tesla, an agile methodology is often used to react quickly to changes in the market or in technology.
“…The success of SpaceX and Tesla was due to Musk constantly pushing his employees to be more ruthless and flexible, to work their butts off under high pressure and thus clear all obstacles out of the way.”

Direct communication: Musk has emphasized the importance of direct and honest communication between team members. He prefers flat hierarchies in which employees are encouraged to express their opinions directly and address problems openly.
“It has to go faster. Faster! Please mark all points where a deadline has not been met. All bad news must be said loudly and often. For good news, once and quietly is enough.”

Customer centricity: He emphasizes that the customer should always be the focus. Decisions in project management should be based on which solutions bring the greatest benefit to the customer.
“Musk, on the other hand, argued that Tesla would only really take off from the start if they brought a Roadster to market that wowed customers. “We only have one chance to bring out our first car, so it has to be as good as it can be,” he explained to Eberhard.”

Failure as a learning opportunity: Musk sees failures not as ultimate failures, but as learning opportunities. This promotes a culture in which teams can experiment and make risky decisions without fear of negative consequences.
“Please do that. I think I’ve made myself quite clear: make them out of steel.” He acknowledged there was a real chance it wouldn’t work, but it was better to fail in one attempt than to spend months analyzing the problem. “If you build the thing quickly, you’ll figure it out quickly. And then you can fix it quickly too.” In fact, they succeeded in replacing most of the parts with stainless steel ones.

Work-life balance: While he is known for his high work commitment (between 80 and 120 hours a week), he has also emphasized the importance of balance in order to remain productive in the long term.

Musk has often said that he is willing to go to extraordinary lengths to realize his visions and that project management is a tool for him to realize these visions efficiently.

PM between “necessary evil” and “bull-shit”

Yes, Elon Musk has criticized traditional approaches to project management in several cases. He expressed concerns that standardized bureaucracy and overly complex processes can hinder innovation. His main points of criticism include:

Bureaucracy: Musk has stated that too many bureaucratic processes and approvals can slow down progress. His company SpaceX is known for taking a very agile and flexible approach to making quick decisions.

Slow decision-making: He believes that decisions are made too slowly in many large organizations. Musk favors fast and direct communication to solve problems immediately instead of having to go through multiple levels of management.

Standardized processes: Musk sees excessive formalization of project management processes as a risk that creative solutions and innovations will stagnate. He believes it is important for teams to be able to think creatively and independently.

Vision and commitment: Musk emphasizes that successful projects often depend on a clear vision and the commitment of team members, not on rigid project management methods.

In summary, while Musk recognizes the importance of project management, he prefers a less traditional, more flexible and creative approach that reflects the innovative nature of his companies.

Elon Musk’s “algorithm” for problem solving

In several interviews and public appearances, Elon Musk has propagated an approach that he uses to solve problems and make decisions. It is also repeatedly mentioned in his biography. This approach can be summarized in several steps:

1. Fundamental principle

• Reduce the problem to the basics:
  • Example: When developing the Tesla Roadster, Musk started with the question of how to build an electric vehicle with high performance and range. Instead of accepting existing assumptions about electric mobility, he broke the problem down into its basic elements (battery technology, motor power, weight) and found innovative solutions, such as the use of lithium-ion batteries from laptop technology.

2. Question everything

• Critical scrutiny:
  • Example: At SpaceX, Musk questioned the high costs and long timeframes of traditional space travel. He questioned existing assumptions about materials, construction methods and the reusability of rockets. This led to the development of the Falcon 1 and Falcon 9, which are significantly more cost-effective and reusable.
    “At almost every meeting, Musk would forcefully convey the message to everyone: “A fully reusable rocket is what separates a single-planet civilization from a multi-planet one.”

3. Creative problem solving

• Develop innovations:
  • Example: When developing the Tesla Gigafactory, Musk aimed to significantly reduce battery manufacturing costs. Instead of relying on existing factory models, he designed the Gigafactory to be a massive, automated production facility with improved efficiency and scalability.
    
    But beware of “over-automation”, as this chapter of his biography shows:
    
    “…This experience became a lesson that would become part of Musk’s production algorithm: Always wait until the end of process development – until all requirements have been scrutinized and all unnecessary parts have been eliminated – before introducing automation. In April 2018, the factory in Nevada worked better…”
    
    The online games nerd Musk also incorporated creative gaming into his companies, as can be seen in the “Giga Casting Machine” chapter:
    
    “…The process once again reinforced Musk’s appreciation for the toy industry. “These people have to produce things very quickly and cheaply, but without defects, and they have to be finished before Christmas or there will be sad faces.” He repeatedly asked his people to look at toy robots or Lego for inspiration. On his way through the factory halls, he once spoke to a group of machine operators about the high-precision production of Lego bricks. These bricks are accurate and identical down to ten microns, which means you can swap one for another. That’s exactly how car parts should be, he thought…”

4. Prototyping and experimenting

• Rapid prototyping:
  • Example: Musk has promoted the concept of “rapid prototyping” at SpaceX. One example of this is the rapid development and testing of Starship prototypes, which enables the team to learn from mistakes and implement improvements in a short space of time. The handling of various prototypes such as Starhopper and SN5 demonstrates this approach.

5. Focus on impact

• Benefits for the customer:
  • Example: At Tesla, Musk’s goal was to make electric vehicles accessible to the masses. The development of the Model 3 was crucial in order to offer a more affordable electric vehicle that is not only environmentally friendly, but also powerful and meets the needs of consumers.

6. Unwavering belief in the vision

• Believe in your own vision:
  • Example: Musk has often faced enormous challenges at SpaceX and Tesla, including funding problems and technical setbacks. Despite this, he remained true to his vision that humans can live on Mars (SpaceX) and that electric vehicles are the future of mobility (Tesla). His unwavering belief ultimately led him to turn these visions into reality, despite the odds.

Conclusion

Overall, Musk’s algorithm for problem solving exemplifies a philosophy based on deep understanding, creativity and a willingness to push conventional boundaries. This mindset has enabled him and his companies to develop innovative products and technologies that have revolutionized several industries.