The next book in our Dave Reads series is another in the business book / Biography category, Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson.
I was somewhat reluctant to write this post because of all of the political baggage going along with the subject here. This is not a political post; generally speaking, I am not really interested in politics in general. I do find Elon Musk a terribly interesting person for his achievements in both business and technology and engineering. Walter Isaacson is a really good writer and an excellent biographer. His process of interviewing both Elon Musk and Steve Jobs, is quite intense and comprehensive leaving no small detail uncovered. I intend to also read the Isaacson’s Steve Jobs bio as well, just not for the next post of Dave Reads.
There is a short-cut (Sort-of) here if you are interested. Check out the (Really Great) Podcast, Diary of a CEO (DOAC) hosted by Steven Bartlett. Bartlett interviewed Walter Isaacson on this book and other topics. You find it on YouTube Here: DOAC-Walter Isaacson. I say it is sort-of a short cut because the interview is 1.5 hours long. Enjoy the interview, but read the book also.
My favorite part of the book is two points – the description of some of his work at the Tesla Factory in Freemont, CA and when he acquired Twitter and removed the backup servers. He and a couple others removed the backup servers in Sacramento over Christmas Eve by essentially breaking into the data center and cutting the cables. Very few people, let alone billionaire owners would pull all-nighters in their car factory to solve problems.
I think there is a lesson every business owner can take away from Musk in his “Algorithm”. I know I can do better here to allow us to grow; without ruining our culture or worse.
1 – Question Every Requirement
2 – Delete any part or process you can
3 – Simplify and optimize
4 – Accelerate cycle time
5 – Automate.
Stay tuned for the next Dave Reads post where I will be putting down my thoughts on a business book I found interesting and hopefully doesn’t ignite a political war; The Prize by Daniel Yergin. 