The Curious Case of Elon Musk
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| SpaceX Demo-2 Launch by NASA/Joel Kowsky |
The idol. Elon has greatly impacted our way of life, from PayPal to Tesla and SpaceX. I’m writing this literally the weekend of the first NASA SpaceX human space flight in 9 years! An incredible feat that few people thought possible a few years ago. The same holds true for all of his companies’ products: all solve hard problems that aim to make the world a better place, and always seem to be ahead of their time. Read the Elon Musk biography for more inspiration.
The worshiper. Let’s be clear, I’m a big fan. Elon has the amazing combination of vision, technical ability, and execution skills to deliver on big audacious goals and the reputation of backing it up time and time again. And his goals are noble; save the planet and the human race from destruction, whether it is evil AI, climate change, or an asteroid.
The tribe. He represents Silicon Valley, amassing fans who pay to be on a two year waitlist for a truck. Why? He’s the entrepreneurial archetype: a genius engineer who thinks outside of the box, builds disruptive technology from first principles, takes huge risks, is a workaholic, and has a track record of multiple billion dollar companies.
The critics. Journalists and coworkers have noted his odd demeanor and his unconventional family life. He routinely over promises, missing product launch targets (model 3) and makes fantastical technological claims (fully self-driving tesla cars). He has a short temper and is known to fire folks on the spot, and may have overcommitted himself, resulting in many drug-induced all-nighters
The stumbles. His anger over the Thailand Soccer Team Cave Rescue resulted in inappropriate and vulgar tweets that led to a defamation lawsuit. His use of Twitter is problematic as the CEO of Tesla, resulting in an SEC violation for market manipulation about a sale price of $420. More recently, his response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been incontrovertibly wrong, claiming it would be over by April, defying government orders, and hurting his reputation.
The haters. Those that view many of his actions as attention grabbing publicity stunts: mini submarine, sending “ventilators” to hospitals. And those that have felt his wrath, whether a rescue diver, former coworker, factory floor worker, or a healthcare professional that wants to solve the pandemic, not ignore it.
The ulteriors. All of us have stakes and confirmation bias that rushes us to judgement to support or condemn Elon: whether it’s an environment-destroying President, a space loving nerd, a Tesla shareholder, a thin skinned venture capitalist, or a stir crazy citizen.
The lessons. There are no infallible idols (replace Elon with any other celebrity, and you could write the same story). Yet we all idolize; we want (our idols) to win and be right. But don’t fall for absolutist thinking, hardly anything is ever as simple as right or wrong. Recognize when you replace truth through understanding with truth by proxy. Don’t blindly follow, and avoid truth based on ulterior motives. And when you do trust an expert, make sure it’s in their field of expertise.
The big lesson. Hold your idols accountable. Don’t turn a blind eye, nor immediately give up on them. Check them instead. Give them a chance to improve; challenge them to be better and learn from their mistakes. Limit their power over you and root out false idols. No one is perfect, but real heroes do emerge.
