The 69 Core Musk Methods

These were selected as some of the fundamental ideas that make Elon and his companies successful. They have been edited or paraphrased into short, memorable maxims.

• You are capable of more than you think.
• It’s possible for ordinary people to choose to be extraordinary.
• You can teach yourself anything. Read widely; talk to experts.
• Assume you’re wrong. Aspire to be less wrong.
• Internalize responsibility.
• If we don’t make stuff, there is no stuff.
• Creating products and services creates wealth.
• A useful life is worth having lived.
• Don’t aspire to glory; aspire to work.
• Take actions that increase the odds of the future being good.
• Every day, we either increase the rate of innovation or it slows down.
• Work on what is just becoming possible.
• Don’t wait for the world to want it. If it should obviously exist, go build it.
• Build what no one else is building.
• As you move forward, allies will assemble around you.
• Prototypes are proof.
• Start somewhere, question assumptions, and adapt to reality.
• Reason from fundamentals, not from what others are doing.
• “The magic-wand number.” See the theoretically perfect and work toward it.
• “Know the idiot index.” Understand the cost of components.
• The Algorithm: Question Requirements → Try to Delete the Part or Process → Simplify → Accelerate → Automate.
• For critical items, have meetings every twenty-four hours to run The Algorithm and check progress from yesterday.
• Stay as close to the actual work as possible. Do not separate yourself from the pain of your decisions.
• All requirements should be treated as recommendations.
• The only fixed laws are the laws of physics.
• The best part is no part; the best process is no process.
• Simplicity creates both reliability and low cost.
• Find the design necessity of every part and every process.
• Overdelete and add back the absolutely necessary.
• Push for radical breakthroughs.
• Be proactive. You will never win unless you take charge of setting the strategy.
• A maniacal sense of urgency is our operating principle.
• A factory moving at twice the speed of another factory is basically equivalent to two factories.
• Attack the bottleneck. If you have 9,999 things that are working and one that isn’t, that one sets the overall production rate.
• You’ll move as fast as your least-lucky or least-competent supplier.
• Do things in parallel.
• Give teams one key metric to focus on. Video games without a score are boring.
• Separating design, engineering, and manufacturing is a recipe for dysfunction.
• Speed of innovation is what matters.
• Beat competitors on speed, quality, and cost, not anticompetitive behavior.
• Test the absurd. When something seems impossible, ask: “What would it take?”
• Money is not the constraint. Exceptional engineers are.
• Get everyone thinking like the chief engineer.
• Get a clear, direct feedback loop with reality.
• Always be smashing your ego. Ensure ability > ego.
• Ask, “Is this effort resulting in a better product or service?” If not, stop.
• Good taste is learnable. Train yourself to notice what makes something beautiful.
• Physics doesn’t care about hurt feelings. Make the rocket fly.
• Empathy is not an asset.
• Use simple, clear, humble terms.
• Go directly to the source of information.
• When hiring, look for evidence of exceptional ability.
• Combine engineering and financial fluency.
• To truly lead the product, lead the company.
• Lead from the front. Sleep on the factory floor.
• Physically move yourself to wherever the problem is immediately.
• All bad news should be given loudly and often. Good news can be said quietly and once.
• Failure is essentially irrelevant unless it is catastrophic.
• Fear of failure is the biggest cause of failure.
• Feel the fear and do it anyway.
• Double down. Push your chips back in.
• Work like hell. Like every waking hour. Go ultra hardcore.
• Make sure you really care about what you’re doing—and take the pain.
• We should not be afraid of doing something important just because some amount of tragedy is likely to occur.
• When something is important enough, do it even if the odds are not in your favor.
• Don’t ever give up. You’d have to be dead or completely incapacitated.
• Play life like a game.
• Go ultra hardcore.
• Humor is a differentiator.

Source: Book of Elon

这些内容被选为让埃隆及其公司取得成功的一些基本理念。它们经过编辑或改写，成为简短、易记的箴言。

• 你的能力比自己以为的更强。
• 普通人也可以选择变得非凡。
• 你可以自学任何东西。广泛阅读；和专家交谈。
• 假设自己是错的。努力变得少错一点。
• 把责任内化。
• 如果我们不制造东西，就不会有东西。
• 创造产品和服务就是创造财富。
• 一个有用的人生值得被经历。
• 不要渴望荣耀；要渴望工作。
• 采取能提高未来变好的概率的行动。
• 每一天，我们要么提高创新速度，要么让它慢下来。
• 去做那些刚刚变得可能的事情。
• 不要等世界想要它。如果它显然应该存在，就去把它造出来。
• 建造别人没有建造的东西。
• 当你向前推进时，盟友会聚集到你身边。
• 原型就是证明。
• 从某处开始，质疑假设，并适应现实。
• 从基本原理出发，而不是从别人正在做什么出发。
• “魔法棒数字。” 看见理论上的完美状态，并朝它努力。
• “知道笨蛋指数。” 理解各组件的成本。
• 算法：质疑需求 → 尝试删除部件或流程 → 简化 → 加速 → 自动化。
• 对关键事项，每二十四小时开一次会，运行算法，并检查昨天以来的进展。
• 尽可能贴近实际工作。不要让自己远离自己的决策带来的痛苦。
• 所有需求都应被视为建议。
• 唯一固定的法则是物理法则。
• 最好的部件是没有部件；最好的流程是没有流程。
• 简单同时带来可靠性和低成本。
• 找出每个部件、每个流程的设计必要性。
• 过度删除，再把绝对必要的东西加回来。
• 追求激进突破。
• 要主动。除非你负责制定战略，否则你永远赢不了。
• 狂热的紧迫感是我们的运行原则。
• 一座速度是另一座两倍的工厂，基本上等于两座工厂。
• 攻击瓶颈。如果有 9,999 件事都正常，只有一件不正常，那一件就决定了整体生产速度。
• 你的速度会和最不走运或最无能的供应商一样快。
• 并行做事。
• 给团队一个关键指标去专注。没有分数的电子游戏很无聊。
• 把设计、工程和制造分开，是功能失调的配方。
• 重要的是创新速度。
• 用速度、质量和成本击败竞争对手，而不是靠反竞争行为。
• 测试荒谬的事情。当某件事看起来不可能时，问：“需要什么条件？”
• 钱不是约束。杰出的工程师才是。
• 让每个人都像总工程师一样思考。
• 和现实建立清晰、直接的反馈回路。
• 永远粉碎你的自我。确保能力 > 自我。
• 问：“这项努力是否带来了更好的产品或服务？” 如果没有，就停下。
• 好品味是可以学习的。训练自己去注意是什么让某样东西变美。
• 物理学不在乎受伤的感情。让火箭飞起来。
• 共情不是资产。
• 使用简单、清楚、谦逊的词语。
• 直接去信息源头。
• 招人时，寻找杰出能力的证据。
• 结合工程能力和财务敏感度。
• 要真正领导产品，就要领导公司。
• 站在最前线领导。睡在工厂地板上。
• 问题在哪里，就立刻把自己移动到哪里。
• 所有坏消息都应该大声、频繁地说。好消息可以安静地说一次。
• 失败基本上无关紧要，除非它是灾难性的。
• 对失败的恐惧是失败的最大原因。
• 感受恐惧，然后照样去做。
• 加倍下注。把筹码重新推回去。
• 像拼命一样工作。像每一个醒着的小时都在工作。进入极限硬核模式。
• 确保你真的在乎自己正在做的事，并承受痛苦。
• 我们不应因为某种程度的悲剧可能发生，就害怕去做重要的事。
• 当某件事足够重要时，即使胜算不站在你这边，也要去做。
• 永远不要放弃。除非你已经死了，或者完全丧失行动能力。
• 像玩游戏一样玩人生。
• 进入极限硬核模式。
• 幽默是一种差异化。

来源：Book of Elon