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Elon Musk's 5 Principles of Work

Haebom
Elon Musk leads several innovative companies, including Tesla, SpaceX, and Neuralink. One of the keys to his success is his unique 'way of working'. This approach is somewhat different from typical company cultures or management styles, and it drives his companies to keep innovating and growing.

1. Question all requirements.

Elon Musk questions every requirement, rule, and process. This means he never just follows convention, but always asks if there's a more efficient or innovative way to do things. He makes it a point to know who created the requirement and, even if that person is smart, he still challenges their opinions. Through this method, only truly necessary requirements remain. (On the contrary, if you accept a smart person's opinion without question, the organization will fall apart.)

2. Eliminate as much as possible.

Get rid of unnecessary components or processes. This makes the company operate faster and more efficiently. Musk believes it's better to remove too much and add things back if needed later, rather than not cutting enough. If you end up adding back less than 10%, you probably didn't eliminate enough. This is about building resilience.
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Everyone can make mistakes, but let's not insist on defending something that's clearly wrong.
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Don't make your team members do things you wouldn't want to do yourself, or look for excuses to avoid dealing with these things.

3. Simplify and optimize.

First eliminate what's unnecessary, then focus on simplifying and optimizing what remains. This sequence is important—the order matters. Simplification here means taking step 2 to the extreme.

4. Speed things up, and shorten the cycle.

Increase the speed of all processes, but only after completing the previous three steps.

5. Automate.

Only after all the above steps are finished should automation happen. This principle comes from lessons Musk learned after making mistakes in Nevada and Fremont. (In the past, Musk once overextended Tesla’s Nevada factory, which led to huge wasted costs.)

Key prerequisites

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Managers need hands-on experience, and hiring based on personal relationships should be avoided.
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If a manager tries to get involved without hands-on experience, they'll face pushback and disconnect from the field staff. That's why managers really need practical experience.
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It's natural to build friendships while working together, but you shouldn't use friendship as an excuse to bypass or simplify processes.
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When a problem comes up, people don't go to top management—they discuss it first with an executive at the next lower level or a manager two levels up. (If your direct boss doesn't solve the issue, it's better not to go through them since the meaning can get lost. This differs a bit from typical Japanese or Korean workplace culture.)
Elon Musk's principles play a major role in enabling his companies to keep innovating and growing. Of course, not everything he does is the ultimate answer, but setting up these kinds of principles and applying them to the way other companies or individuals work can really help a lot.

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Xom
Thanks. In Essential Premises, "not just directly above" means your immediate managers rather than the top level. By talking with managers two levels up, misinterpretation from multiple intrepretations can be avoided.
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좋은 글 잘읽었습니다. 일론 머스크는 제가 좋아하는 인물중에 하나입니다. ㅎ
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좋은 글 잘 읽었습니다. 일론 머스크는 제가 좋아하는 인물 중 하나입니다 ㅎ
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