Delete, Delete, Delete -- The Critical Technique from "Elon Musk" by Walter Isaacson
Strategies and Techniques for Change Agents, Strategists, and Innovators
Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery
You’re busy. It’s not easy to find the time to read a 670 page biography on arguably “the person of the 21st century”. That’s why I’m here. I’ve done the fun work of reading, synthesizing and summarizing this heavyweight book. Correction — THE critical point of the book.
I’m going to boil this book down to not just one key lesson, but one key word.
Read on…
The Algorithm
By all accounts, Elon Musk is a hands-on problem solver. He has a goal, a mission and typically a target cost structure and critical operational constraints in order to make that mission a reality.
For example, the mission of SpaceX is “making humanity multiplanetary.” To do that, the fundamental cost structure of space travel has to change. The space shuttle was ~$51,000 per kilogram. The SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket is targeted at less than $1,600 per kilogram. The next generation of SpaceX rockets are targeting $200 per kilogram. This cost model innovation is the critical constraint enabling the mission.
Image Credit1
How do you get there? The algorithm. Here are the five “easy” steps of Elon’s algorithm:
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