4 Tips on How to Be Productive, Straight From Elon Musk
Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk is trying to get a lot done — alternating his time between developing reusable spaceflight modules one day and building a mass-market electric car the next. In a memo to Tesla employees about a bold plan to push Model 3 cars 24/7, the CEO laid out a few personal tips.
The 46-year old visionary is making the most out of his time, and to do just that, he advised employees to do away with the things that get in the way of productivity — even if they are things other companies embrace as vital, like meetings or a rigid office structure.
Excessive Meetings Waste People's Time
Musk is just not a fan of meetings, and the bigger they are, the more he asks his employees to avoid them altogether. "Excessive meetings are the blight of big companies and almost always get worse over time," he emphasized, as quoted by Business Insider.
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He asked his employees to get rid of all meetings, period, aside from a few cases. Large meetings are to be an exception and not the rule, and those should only be held if the host is certain that what they will present will be valuable to the entire audience.
"In which case keep them very short," Musk allowed. Wasting less time on meetings means getting a lot more done, which is vital in doing things like, say, launching the SpaceX BFR by 2019, which is already next year.
No Acronyms or "Nonsense" Jargon
Technical terms are fine but are to be avoided in Tesla as much as possible, according to the company CEO.
"Acronyms or nonsense words" are to be avoided in Tesla, even though jargon is an ingrained habit in many engineers. Explaining them simply takes up time that could have been used on something else.
"In general, anything that requires an explanation inhibits communication. We don't want people to have to memorize a glossary just to function at Tesla," Musk explained.
Communication Should Travel via the Shortest Path
"Chain of command" is one concept that Musk is not overly fond of in his companies, as plugging a message through various desks and middle managers are, for him, a waste of time. He's serious about this one, too.
"Any manager who attempts to enforce chain of command communication will soon find themselves working elsewhere," Musk warned. Any employee, then who needs to consult him can just ask the man directly, now that Musk is back to sleeping at the factory to push their Tesla Model 3 targets.
Don't Waste Time Following Silly Rules
This one could be shortened to simply "Don't waste time."
"In general, always pick common sense as your guide," Musk advised his employees, and those who already do use common sense will not need to be reminded. A company rule that's obviously getting in the way of getting things done is the one that should change, and not the process, according to the entrepreneur.
