We all have leaders. As an employee on the opposite side of the career ladder, these people are responsible for your salary and your role in their vision. But their role is more than just providing tasks; it is to be someone you can trust to protect your well-being while you pursue that vision.

I’ve experienced being led by people on both sides of the emotional spectrum. Being under someone who does not care about your health and does not respect your time has left a scar on my heart and mind. Because of this, my view of Elon Musk is deeply conflicted.

The Bridge: The Shadow of Greatness

Elon is the ultimate example of this friction. He is notorious for a “hardcore” work culture that treats human burnout as an acceptable byproduct of progress. To many, including myself, his leadership style can feel cold, even reckless. Yet, looking past the personality and the headlines, he is undeniably effective at steering his enterprises toward success and convincing the world to believe in them.

SpaceX, Tesla, and Neuralink have all become top-of-mind in their respective markets. Whether I like his management style or not, there is an “engineering soul” to his success that is worth studying. Here are the three things I’ve learned from him that have actually made me a better engineer:

1. Reason from First Principles

Most people “reason by analogy,” which means they do things because “that’s how it’s always been done.” Elon does the opposite. He breaks a problem down to its fundamental physical truths and builds up from there.

• The Lesson: When he discovered that the cost of purchasing a rocket was astronomical, he decided to look at the first principles. He asked: “What is a rocket made of? Aerospace-grade aluminum alloys, plus some titanuim,…” He calculated their value and realized that the materials cost of a rocket was only two percent of the typical price. He then decided to build the rockets himself, thus SpaceX was born.
• The Takeaway: Don’t accept “industry standards” as law. The only real laws are the laws of physics; everything else is just a recommendation.

2. “The Algorithm”: Question Every Requirement

Musk has a 5-step process he calls “The Algorithm,” and the first step is the most important: Question every requirement. He famously says that requirements from “smart people” are the most dangerous because you are less likely to challenge them.

• The Lesson: Every requirement must have a name attached to it, not just a department. If you can’t find the person who made the rule, the rule is probably “dumb” and should be deleted.
• The Takeaway: Never optimize a process that shouldn’t exist in the first place. As engineers, we often work hard to make a function faster when we should have just deleted the function entirely.

3. Maniacal Sense of Urgency

While this is the trait that often leads to the “scarring” of employees’ well-being, his determination to move fast is an engineering marvel. He treats time as a non-renewable resource. He prefers to “build, fail, fix” rather than “plan, plan, plan.”

• The Lesson: In the early days of SpaceX, they didn’t wait for a perfect rocket. They blew things up, learned why, and fixed it in the next iteration. This “high-velocity failure” is why they eventually surpassed NASA in launch frequency.
• The Takeaway: Determination is often just the willingness to fail faster than everyone else.

Closing Remark

It is possible to respect the method while rejecting the man. I may never agree with his view on employee well-being or his “hardcore” demands, but I cannot deny that his engineering frameworks are tools that every software engineer should have in their belt. He isn’t my hero, but he has certainly been one of my most impactful teachers.

References

• https://jamesclear.com/first-principles
• https://modelthinkers.com/mental-model/musks-5-step-design-process