? Elon musk founded the information website Zip2 at the age of 24. After being acquired by Compaq, the company made a profit of $22 million. With this money, he founded PayPal, the world's leading Internet payment company, and made him among the billionaires. At this time, he didn't settle for the status quo and become a rich man. Instead, he used the money to realize his childhood dream, to make science and technology play its greatest role, to solve the problem of the survival and continuation of human species, and to save mankind from self-destruction and unexpected disasters. In this way, elon musk founded three companies that subverted the future of mankind: Space Exploration Technology Company, Tesla and SolarCity.
? He subverted the traditional concept of automobile with new energy vehicles; He used the "Dragon" spacecraft of Space Exploration Technology Company to successfully send two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station. He used his personal rooftop photovoltaic power station to promote energy reform, and the maturity and scale of any of these technologies will change human life. Success is not achieved overnight, it is a gradual process. How did this lonely boy, who was enlightened by science fiction since childhood, become Iron Man elon musk in Silicon Valley? We summed up four strategies from his career. Although we can't copy and paste it as "Musk", we can see how he is moving towards his goals and ideals and turning distant dreams into reality.
? First, from the end, from the first principle.
? Elon musk has his own unique "first principle" way of thinking. The first principle is the basis of our logical reasoning. Just like building a house, the higher you want to build, the deeper you need to dig. With the first principle, the certainty and stability of reasoning can be guaranteed. When elon musk does something, he usually starts from its physical essence, and then pushes it back from the essence layer by layer. What are the key methods to strip away the appearance of things and sort out a certain goal? How long will it take? How much will it cost? How much cheaper can it be? Then rethink the solution.
? Space exploration technology company has a grand and specific goal, which is to "send 1 10,000 people to live on Mars". The biggest constraint is that the transportation cost is too expensive. According to NASA's assessment, the per capita income is as high as $654.38+00 billion. In order to achieve the goal, it is necessary to reduce the cost of a Mars ticket to $500,000 once. Faced with this seemingly unreachable goal, Musk relied on the "first principle" and disassembly thinking, and repeatedly explored and tried around key points such as "reducing manufacturing costs to one tenth" and "recycling rockets", and finally found a solution. He first determined the most important goal, then stood at the end of the matter and pushed back to the best path.
At the same time, he always asks his colleagues to consider the "realization path" instead of arguing "whether it is feasible". His mode of thinking is to look at the present situation from the perspective of the future, which has certain transcendence. In this "final thinking" mode of reverse thinking, you will not lose confidence in the result because of temporary difficulties, nor will you be in vain because your goal is too high-because you know very well that your goal is the inevitable result derived from the "first principle". This rational way of thinking is especially worth learning.
Second, where the layout is large, small places start to iterate quickly.
? Musk said: "What should I do in this world? I want to build a car, solve the problem of global warming, and let human beings achieve interstellar survival. " These ambitious goals sound impressive, but how to implement them? "adopt the strategy of' focusing on the overall situation, starting from small things and iterating quickly'. The key is to work out a series of decomposition goals in the ultimate direction, guide you along the career line, act quickly, and improve the details through iteration.
? "The martial arts in the world are invincible, but they are fast and unbreakable", which is the classic line of Huoyun Evil God in the movie Kung Fu. Any good idea is inseparable from rapid implementation. Musk always worked out the most radical timetable he could think of and asked his subordinates to go all out. For example, from the beginning, he asked the engineers of space exploration technology company to realize the rapid launch capability of rockets. Rocket design must consider how to launch quickly. What Musk can't stand most is that his subordinates find excuses to shirk or lack a clear work plan. After years of hard work, Falcon 9 rocket only needs 16 days from entering the launch site to its official launch. This rapid launch capability can meet various space launch missions. Other launch systems take two to four months, as Mueller, who is in charge of the propulsion department of Space Exploration Technologies, said: Rapid response is far behind.
? In 200 1 year, the Agile Alliance composed of a group of American programmers issued the Agile Manifesto, and since then, the Internet field has pursued "agile development and rapid iteration". All agility is the ability to develop rapidly in the face of rapidly changing needs; The so-called iteration is to absorb user feedback in time to upgrade products. Musk once said to the rapid iteration: "If you want to keep improving and make the best things within your own ability, you must find the mistakes, make improvements and seek feedback on the shortcomings." Tesla, owned by Musk, has a fan column in official website, including users' blogs, activities, pictures and videos. Of course, the core is the user forum.
? When Tesla's Model S first entered China, some users suggested that the panoramic skylight of Model S used glass to give people a sense of surprise, but there was no sunshade skylight, so it was not used to it. Soon, Tesla introduced a design scheme with sunshade skylight in official website for users to choose from. Fast iteration and agile response are the keys for Tesla to win a large number of fans quickly. For those of us who are in the workplace, we can also learn from Musk to break down our dreams into milestones. In this way, you can quickly move towards small goals, and you can constantly optimize and improve in the process of progress, greatly improving the possibility of achieving your goals, thus getting rid of your dependence on luck.
Third, stand up persistently in difficult situations.
John Calvin Coolidge said: "Nothing in the world can replace perseverance. Talent is not good, and failed geniuses are common. " Nelson mandela worked hard for more than 50 years to end apartheid and fight for freedom for the South African people, including 27 years of imprisonment. Mandela later became the first black president in the country's history. Mandela took a big step towards his mission and career with perseverance. Nine times out of ten, life is not satisfactory, and so is Musk. His road to exploring the unknown world is more difficult.
The second launch of Space Exploration Technology Company in 2007 also failed. Tesla's delayed delivery was ridiculed by the car website: "Never deliver the goods." This year, his marriage with his wife suffering from postpartum depression also showed cracks. In 2008, Musk's life became more turbulent. He divorced his wife Justin, the third launch of Space Exploration Technology Company failed, and Tesla's precarious financial situation was even more maddening. In the face of difficulties, Musk knows that only by perseverance can he stand out. Gracias, one of Tesla's investors, said: "In 2008, he fully understood Musk's personality. He witnessed a man who came to the United States with his bare hands, lost a child, was severely humiliated by reporters and his ex-wife in the media, and the company he devoted his life to was on the verge of bankruptcy.
Musk works harder than anyone I know and can withstand greater pressure. What he experienced in 2008 may have led to the collapse of others. Not only did he survive, but he continued to concentrate on his work. I have never met anyone more determined than him. "There is an amazing research in psychology, which analyzes some factors behind success and has a very direct formula to explain it: ability x perseverance = performance. With the success of the fourth launch of Space Exploration Technology Company, Musk convinced NASA at all costs that Space Exploration Technology Company had the ability to overcome difficulties and send the spacecraft to the International Space Station. In the end, it became the supplier of the International Space Station, and the Space Exploration Technology Company obtained $6,543.86 billion. Musk also launched several other plans to save his company Tesla.
? The failures of the past ten years have brought ridicule, doubt and bankruptcy crisis, and also made Musk suffer unimaginable torture for most people. He often quoted Churchill as saying, "If you have to go through hell, move on." In order to achieve the grand goal of science fiction, he encountered dark moments again and again, but he survived from the abyss again and again with perseverance. Only then did the release of Tess Model S and the recovery of Falcon 9 rocket become possible. On the road to growth, everyone will encounter difficulties. The difference is that most people will retreat, and a few will continue to insist. We should learn humility (to recognize our own shortcomings), empathy (to feel the pain of others), patience (to accept the reality that things go against our will) and resilience (to gain confidence from our ability to recover after overcoming difficulties). Only by facing the dilemma with such a mentality can we turn it into a tool to help ourselves grow and improve.
Fourth, study deeply and grow into an interdisciplinary expert.
? Knowledge, skill and talent constitute the three cores of ability. To become a master in a certain field, all three aspects must be improved. Zhang Sanfeng, Jin Yong's novel Eternal Dragon Slayer, passed it to Zhang Wuji Taiji Sword on the spot. From this, we can correspond fencing-fencing-sword meaning with knowledge-skill-talent, that is, how to make the knowledge, skilled skills and spontaneous talent of sword. It should be noted that although talent is very important in career success, without knowledge and skills, talent cannot form an advantage, let alone workplace competitiveness.
Musk doesn't know much about professional knowledge like other executives, just giving employees vision and encouragement to do it. At first, he was just an aerospace enthusiast, but he lacked aviation knowledge. His solution is to read more books and meet more people. In childhood, Musk could quickly learn the knowledge in books, and now, this skill is no less than childhood. Musk's initial rocket knowledge mainly came from textbooks. He taught himself the principle of rocket propulsion, the foundation of celestial dynamics, the aerothermodynamic of gas turbine and rocket propulsion system, and so on.
Later, after the space exploration technology company hired one genius after another, Musk realized that the knowledge of these people could be used for himself. He will keep asking questions until he learns 90% of the knowledge that these geniuses have. After several years of operating space exploration technology company, Musk has grown into a real CEO and aerospace expert. Few CEOs of technology companies can reach his professional level in their respective fields. To achieve great things, you must have interdisciplinary knowledge. Through deep learning, Musk became a cross-border expert in aerospace, IT, engineering, physics, design, commerce, organization, leadership and negotiation with the government. At the same time, he became a star inventor, entrepreneur and industrialist, turning great ideas into great products. People often have three attitudes towards dreams-giving up, retaining and catching up, and then becoming three kinds of people-mediocrity, complainer and dreamer. Since childhood, Musk has been exposed to a science fiction novel "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" which has the greatest influence on his life. He regards the journey of human beings in the universe as his personal mission.
Musk mentioned in an interview that he believes that there are five areas that will profoundly affect the future of mankind: Internet, new energy, space exploration, artificial intelligence and life sciences. Today, he has set foot in the first four fields. He miraculously made these three companies: Space Exploration Technology Company has become the most stable operator in the aerospace industry, Tesla has become the coolest and best-selling pure electric luxury car in the world, and Sun City is the largest consumer commercial solar panel installation supplier at present. Elon musk, the dreamer, is still turning his fantastic ideas into reality. We ordinary people are also inspired by his story: set a goal with passion, meet challenges with tenacity, grow in iteration, gain new knowledge in learning, start your dream realization journey in Starlight Glimmer, and become an "iron man" in their respective fields!