No matter you consider him, there’s no denying that Elon Musk is an interesting individual. At at this time’s date he’s the richest individual on the planet, together with his web price estimated at $222bn, and he has cofounded firms together with electrical automotive maker Tesla, rocket producer SpaceX and tunnelling startup Boring Firm. His success price is extremely excessive.
Contrasting Musk to Jeff Bezos, the second richest individual on the planet who has gained massive however famously failed at 57 completely different initiatives (and fortunately admits to his, “cascade of experiments and errors and failures”), Musk’s strategy seems to be rifle shot quite than scattergun. Musk and Bezos are the 2 richest folks on the planet, so there should be advantage in each strategies. However how does Musk proceed to construct firms that by no means fail in an enormous approach?
When you may chalk these constant successes as much as his IQ, reported to be 155, there are many folks with simply as excessive an IQ who aren’t billionaires. What makes Musk completely different is he’s considering in another way, being restricted solely by the legal guidelines of physics, after which, he stated, “the whole lot else is a advice.”
On prime of this, Musk makes use of particular psychological fashions to unravel actual world issues. Relatively than being anecdotal enterprise principle, they’ve confirmed to work in observe throughout his numerous enterprises. 4 of those fashions are first rules considering, imagining issues within the restrict, the platonic perfect and his optimization framework. Right here they’re in additional element.
1. Apply first rules considering
A primary precept is a foundational fact that’s “recognized by nature.” First rules considering is the place you take away subjective assumptions, bias and conjecture from issues and give attention to solely what’s true. The purpose, subsequently, is to search out the only fact that exists inside the legal guidelines of physics, freed from your private limitations and beliefs. As soon as this absolute fact is outlined you cause up from there. Slicing away, stripping again, then constructing.
In observe, seize any reply you may have arrived at after which take away all assumptions. Musk thinks you’ll both discover a higher reply or the identical one as everybody else. He admits, “I do zero market analysis, in anyway” as a result of it’s not useful and everyone seems to be improper. “Regardless of who you might be, everyone seems to be improper among the time. All designs are improper, it is only a matter of how improper.”
Musk utilized first rules considering to battery packs, for instance. You may hear folks say, “battery packs are costly and that’s the best way they’ll all the time be.” However batteries are fabricated from cobalt, nickel, aluminium, and polymers, supplies which might be pretty cheap. What’s costly is the manufacturing of these supplies, how they’re mixed right into a battery. First rules considering leads you to understand that batteries aren’t costly, the manufacturing of them is, which implies the issue to unravel is the manufacturing.
2. Take into consideration issues within the restrict
Fascinated by issues within the restrict is a thought experiment by which any downside is scaled proper up and scaled proper all the way down to assess the adjustments that occur at each magnitudes. A latest instance issues Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, after which he signalled that the 280-character restrict could be edited, tweeting that the “capacity to do lengthy tweets [is] coming quickly.” Pondering of Twitter’s character allowance within the restrict means imagining what the platform would appear like with tweet size scaled proper all the way down to, say, 50 characters, and proper as much as, say, 1000. Each limits would have completely different repercussions for the social community.
Whether or not an issue together with your product, service, crew or outcomes, give it some thought scaled up and down and mess around with the solutions. For instance, take a pricing downside the place you’re making an attempt to work out why one thing is pricey, then think about your quantity was 1,000,000 models. Would the product nonetheless be costly? If that’s the case, there’s maybe an economies of scale downside to unravel.
Preserve going with limits, each colossal and miniscule. In the event you managed only one individual, would you continue to have your HR downside? What about ten thousand? In the event you supplied your service to 5 purchasers in comparison with 1,000,000, what would change? Incorporate the thought of tiny and big scale into each downside you need to give it some thought like Musk would. Make selections with out being restricted by legacy, guidelines, cash or sources and see what’s doable.
3. Think about the platonic perfect of the right product
Imagining the platonic perfect means visualizing your answer in its most good kind earlier than trying to create it in actuality. This implies the main target is on the right product quite than the right utility of what occurs to be your present skillset.
When designing a product or beginning a enterprise, most individuals begin from the premise of their instruments, abilities and data, then take into consideration what they’ll construct with that. Musk says, as a substitute, it is best to work backwards from the right product. Conceptualize it, and solely then search for the instruments, abilities and data that you might want to deliver that product to life. In response to Musk, it is best to attempt to think about “the platonic perfect of, say, the right rocket or automotive.” Take into consideration the traits it will have, “after which make that. After which, I discover that in the event you try this, folks will need to purchase it” he stated.
Pondering on this approach means you create what is definitely required quite than merely what suits inside your skillset. It stops you being restricted by your life selections and data. It stops you being biased or clouded by your expertise, which could not be related in any respect. Inside your profession and enterprise, what’s the perfect answer? The proper workplace, the right service, the right product. Visualise that, get conversant in each half after which work backwards from there. This may lead you to rethink processes, restructure your crew or rework your providing, all primarily based on the platonic perfect.
4. Take these 5 steps when optimizing
Musk believes that the one greatest mistake made by good engineers is optimizing one thing that shouldn’t exist in any respect. Due to this fact, it is best to first work out if optimization is even needed. To use this technique, earlier than making an attempt to optimize something, observe these 5 steps. The 1st step is “query”, or in Musk’s phrases, “make your necessities much less dumb.” Right here’s the place you query whether or not or not your answer to the issue is the best one. Zoom out and have a look at the issue with perspective. Does it matter?
Step two is “delete”. Musk believes that when designing an answer, folks have a tendency so as to add issues “simply in case.” Falling for addition bias, the place our tendency is so as to add quite than subtract, results in a bloated consequence. Musk says it is best to delete the whole lot that’s pointless, even going so far as to say, “in the event you’re not including again at the very least 10% of the belongings you’re deleting, you’re not deleting sufficient.” Take away, cut back, take away some extra.
Step three is just, “optimize”. Now you may have the most effective try on the proper answer, optimize and simplify from there, whereas persevering with to note the place there is likely to be errors. After that there’s step 4, speed up the cycle time and step 5, automate.
Though Musk and SpaceX have used this technique to rethink rocket design (and create “minimal viable rocket”) it may be utilized to enterprise, manufacturing and all fields of product design. In the event you simplified your necessities and minimize the whole lot away earlier than optimizing, quickening and automating, how completely different may your corporation look?
Give your self a shot at success on an Elon Musk scale by fixing issues in an analogous approach. Suppose how Elon thinks, read what Elon reads and strategy challenges from first rules, the idea of limits, the platonic perfect and his five-step optimization framework.