Five lessons for the new decade from the life of Elon Musk

2020. We’ve stepped into a new future and nothing else says it better. From Self-Driving Cars to AI-enabled bots, we are entering a technology renaissance.

As I began to think about the new decade, I had to look for inspiration for the future. I had read the Elon Musk book written by Ashlee Vance in 2015 twice, however, I still felt that some new gems lay there that could throw more light on the changes to come in this decade.

Ashlee did a masterful (and painstaking) account of Elon’s rise to the top, and the forefront of innovation. In many ways, Elon embodies the innovative thinking necessary to move humanity forward.

Here are my top five lessons for the new decade from the life of Elon Musk as portrayed in the bestseller by Ashlee Vance:

1. You need a vision that’s larger than life

I heard somewhere that if your dreams don’t keep you up at night then you need to dream bigger. This is certainly the case with Elon Musk as the rallying cry for most of his ventures is to “enable mankind to become a multi-planetary species”.

His goal is to help mankind become a space-faring species, surviving not only on Earth but also on Mars. Crazy right? But with reusable rockets checked out, next-gen battery technology in the works and the world’s largest satellite network nearing completion — you better believe that Elon has a plan to make this happen.

The impact of this vision would be in itself revolutionary. I imagine that this realization keeps Elon and the rest of his team motivated. Knowing that the work they do has some greater and potentially world-changing impact. That’s the “why” that keeps him going. The Big Hairy Audacious Goal that keeps him up at night. We truly can take a cue from this and set a vision for the decade that’s so big and hairy that it gets in the way of the distractions of life and keeps you motivated till you not only have accomplished your goal but have also made an impact in your world.

2. You need a (really) good plan

One thing Elon does very well, beyond coming up with out of the world ideas, is putting together a strategic and coordinated plan to bring his vision to reality.

Think of his Master Plan for Electric cars (yes, he actually had a master plan). His strategy was to first come up with a high-end luxury electric vehicle that would cater to the elite. This had a twin effect, firstly, a social effect of making his products desirable, and a more practical and economic effect, of creating higher margins to breakeven despite the massive R&D spend that was going into the car. That way, he not only would be building an appealing brand, but he would have a company left after doing it. Good plan right? I know…

It was that same smart and decisive thinking that helped him figure out that his aerospace company, SpaceX, would be better off building Falcon 1, a low-payload carrying launch vehicle that would cater to the smaller satellite and research launch market. This would give him the flexibility to try something new, fail and then try again — as against competing against the established big names like Boeing and Lockheed Martin. This decade, when faced with formidable problems, its best to slow down and take a deep dive into our inner genius where the solutions (even though they may not come immediately) always eventually emerge to those who patiently seek.

3. Outwork the competition — and then put in some more work

It’s one thing to get ahead. It’s another thing entirely to stay ahead. In this fast-paced world, many get bogged down by activity and forget to stay productive, not Elon however. He has been known to work regular 80–90 hour work weeks or about 15-hours/day — and although this comes with its fair share of criticism, the ethos is clear: what differentiates you from the next guy is the quality of work you do.

The finesse with which he plans his work hours is inspiring. Elon tracks down seemingly trivial details of how he spends his time. He tracks things like how long he spends on flights and breaks down his time into productive bits of 5-min intervals. This gives us some insight to his relentless work ethic and untiring desire to put in his best into his companies.

Now there are multiple approaches to doing more productive and quality work: there’s outsourcing (see the famous Four-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris), there’s refocusing (see Deep Work by Cal Newport) and then there’s plain old grit and mustering the effort to put in that extra hour that will help set your work apart. Many underestimate the sheer value of good old hard work and most times they lack the drive to do much of anything of value. Hopefully, that’s not you in this decade- because you now realize the impact that more quality work can have on your overall productivity.

4. Be intensely passionate about things that matter

Elon is a voracious reader. When Elon was growing up, it was typical of him to read about 10 hours/day. He once plowed through the Encyclopedia and would finish off from school and spend hours pouring over comics and sci-fi/fantasy books. You see, he was passionate about understanding what was out there. He was lucky to have one of the purest forms of curiosity, a hunger for knowledge. In a society that’s hungry for a lot of questionable things, it would definitely pay off to invest your time, energy and passion in worthwhile pursuits.

When Elon was venturing into a new business or industry, he typically would pick up a good book on the area of interest and surround himself with great minds that he could “pepper” with questions to satiate his curiosity. He would read books on aerospace and economics to get a good grasp of what he knew he didn’t know and then use that new knowledge to drive new ideas. It’s easy to get distracted in a digital age, but being intensely passionate — that is positively curious about something, and willing to dive deep into that pursuit will give you miles of gas to get more done and make your dreams a reality.

How about that childhood daydream about racing cars you used to have? Why not explore it, understand how race cars work and even if you’re not an engineer, find a good race car company to invest in. If you’re not into business, find some little way to help more young kids catch the race fever you once did. How about that cause you thought about in high school but forgot? Read a book about the issue, contribute to society, leave a mark and make an improvement — before it’s too late.

5. Choose success and learn to fail forward

Despite many successes, Elon has failed a lot. From exploding rockets to corporate sabotage to huge fines. Elon has made his fair share of mistakes but has always managed to make success his only option by choosing it first and seeing failure as an opportunity to move forward. Typical of the Silicon Valley Entrepreneur — it’s better to try and fail, than not to try at all.

Many times, we place too much credence on our fears, our limitations, our inadequacies, and inabilities. If for once, we stopped and changed the narrative, we would realize that failure is a choice. You choose to accept failure when you refuse to learn from your mistakes and chart a new path to your goals.

As I’ve seen many times, even with ideas, it’s that last attempt, that final shot that most times pulls through as a win. Without the courage to learn, there would be no courage to succeed. This is what winners like Musk understand: that sometimes, you just have to give it your all and never take no for an answer.

What do you think of this week’s article? Are there more lessons to learn from Elon Musk in the new decade? Let’s hear your thoughts…