What is Elon Musks temperament?

What is Elons temperament?

  • ST

    Votes: 4 13.8%

  • SF

    Votes: 2 6.9%

  • NT

    Votes: 21 72.4%

  • NF

    Votes: 2 6.9%
  • Total voters
    29
Ren said:
I think your story is the correct one :wink: Have you ever considered figuring out your Enneagram?
Click to expand...

I don't know about that. I read somewhere that there's no room for two of the same type under the same roof. Maybe I have been a stressed ISTP all my life? :grimacing:

I have tried, and I would like to. The enneagrams is like an onion with ever going layers to me. I can't figure out what is obvious or underlying, because the levels blur together. The more I read into it, the more confused I get. For instance I got the obvious symptoms of a 2, and then realize that it stems from 8, that stems from 6 that I don't resonate with at all, and so on. I end up having them all equally if all layers are to be considered. :neutral:
 
https://www.inc.com/justin-bariso/e...ZEqIAxgFtl7azN5ehgAZlGzjxxT2yy-qwJIE362mDGVts


Have you ever gotten an email from your CEO at 1 o'clock in the morning?

That's about the time Tesla CEO Elon Musk sent a memo to Tesla employees last Friday, according to the Wall Street Journal. (Technically, it was 1:20 a.m. in California, where Tesla is based.)

And let's just say the email wasn't pretty.


After highlighting Tesla's numerous accomplishments over the past year, Musk got down and dirty, announcing another round of job cuts--this time reducing the number of full-time employees by about 7 percent.

The job cuts are necessary, Musk argues, to help the company meet the unique challenges it faces. Challenges like "making our cars, batteries, and solar products cost-competitive with fossil fuels," products that Musk admits "are still too expensive for most people."

Musk also acknowledges that since Tesla is competing "against massive, entrenched competitors ... [employees] must work much harder than other manufacturers to survive."

All of this hard work is worth it, Musk says, to support the "mission of accelerating the advent of sustainable transport and energy, which is important for all life on Earth."

It's hard not to be inspired by this message.

Everyone--including the world's major car manufacturers--knows the continued use of fossil fuels is not sustainable. And no one can deny that those companies probably wouldn't be as vested in clean energy as they currently are if it weren't for Tesla leading the charge.

But while I'm a fan of much of Musk's philosophy, it's the next part of the memo that worries me:


There are many companies that can offer a better work-life balance, because they are larger and more mature or in industries that are not so voraciously competitive. Attempting to build affordable clean energy products at scale necessarily requires extreme effort and relentless creativity, but succeeding in our mission is essential to ensure that the future is good, so we must do everything we can to advance the cause.

"We must do everything we can to advance the cause."

Musk's personal goal to save the planet may be admirable, but what he's implying here is not.

In fact, these 10 words are a perfect example of what is known as the "dark side" of emotional intelligence.

Treating people like people

We generally think of emotional intelligence as a positive quality, one that can help you manage conflict or establish deeper relationships. But in my book EQ Applied, I describe how people can also use their knowledge and understanding of emotions to motivate or even manipulate others with the sole intent of strategically achieving a goal.

Once that goal is reached, or when individuals are no longer helpful to pursuit of the goal, they are discarded with little or no concern for their well-being.

While it's likely that Musk truly believes his own rhetoric, what he's trying to achieve--namely, getting people to buy into the mission of "saving the world" by working themselves to the bone--simply isn't sustainable.

And it's hurting Tesla employees in the process.

In contrast, the most effective mission-driven organizations encourage balance and taking care of oneself. They realize that anything other than that is foolish and will hurt the cause in the end, in the form of damaged workers and, subsequently, damaged culture.

Yes, the best organizations use their messaging to inspire their people and reach them on an emotional level. But they do so while keeping their individual needs in mind.

The best organizations encourage their people to get enough sleep by not sending emails at 1 in the morning.

The best organizations encourage their people to take time off, by providing an adequate vacation policy--and encouraging company leaders to set the right example by not working on their own vacations.

The best organizations set a pace their people can maintain indefinitely. Because they realize that long-term success is brought about, not necessarily by those who are the fastest or who work the longest days, but by those who are steady and reliable.

By keeping the big picture in view, and treating their employees as real people--as opposed to disposable commodities--the best organizations inspire company loyalty.

The sooner Musk faces this reality, the greater Tesla's chances of truly changing the world.
 
Company Update
January 18, 2019
This morning, the following email was sent to all Tesla employees:

As we all experienced first-hand, last year was the most challenging in Tesla’s history. However, thanks to your efforts, 2018 was also the most successful year in Tesla’s history: we delivered almost as many cars as we did in all of 2017 in the last quarter alone and nearly as many cars last year as we did in all the prior years of Tesla’s existence combined! Model 3 also became the best-selling premium vehicle of 2018 in the US. This is truly remarkable and something that few thought possible just a short time ago.

Looking ahead at our mission of accelerating the advent of sustainable transport and energy, which is important for all life on Earth, we face an extremely difficult challenge: making our cars, batteries and solar products cost-competitive with fossil fuels. While we have made great progress, our products are still too expensive for most people. Tesla has only been producing cars for about a decade and we’re up against massive, entrenched competitors. The net effect is that Tesla must work much harder than other manufacturers to survive while building affordable, sustainable products.

In Q3 last year, we were able to make a 4% profit. While small by most standards, I would still consider this our first meaningful profit in the 15 years since we created Tesla. However, that was in part the result of preferentially selling higher priced Model 3 variants in North America. In Q4, preliminary, unaudited results indicate that we again made a GAAP profit, but less than Q3. This quarter, as with Q3, shipment of higher priced Model 3 variants (this time to Europe and Asia) will hopefully allow us, with great difficulty, effort and some luck, to target a tiny profit.

However, starting around May, we will need to deliver at least the mid-range Model 3 variant in all markets, as we need to reach more customers who can afford our vehicles. Moreover, we need to continue making progress towards lower priced variants of Model 3. Right now, our most affordable offering is the mid-range (264 mile) Model 3 with premium sound and interior at $44k. The need for a lower priced variants of Model 3 becomes even greater on July 1, when the US tax credit again drops in half, making our car $1,875 more expensive, and again at the end of the year when it goes away entirely.

Sorry for all these numbers, but I want to make sure that you know all the facts and figures and understand that the road ahead is very difficult. This is not new for us – we have always faced significant challenges – but it is the reality we face. There are many companies that can offer a better work-life balance, because they are larger and more mature or in industries that are not so voraciously competitive. Attempting to build affordable clean energy products at scale necessarily requires extreme effort and relentless creativity, but succeeding in our mission is essential to ensure that the future is good, so we must do everything we can to advance the cause.

As a result of the above, we unfortunately have no choice but to reduce full-time employee headcount by approximately 7% (we grew by 30% last year, which is more than we can support) and retain only the most critical temps and contractors. Tesla will need to make these cuts while increasing the Model 3 production rate and making many manufacturing engineering improvements in the coming months. Higher volume and manufacturing design improvements are crucial for Tesla to achieve the economies of scale required to manufacture the standard range (220 mile), standard interior Model 3 at $35k and still be a viable company. There isn't any other way.

To those departing, thank you for everything you have done to advance our mission. I am deeply grateful for your contributions to Tesla. We would not be where we are today without you.

For those remaining, although there are many challenges ahead, I believe we have the most exciting product roadmap of any consumer product company in the world. Full self-driving, Model Y, Semi, Truck and Roadster on the vehicle side and Powerwall/pack and Solar Roof on the energy side are only the start.

I am honored to work alongside you.

Thanks for everything,
Elon
 
Asa said:
Company Update
January 18, 2019
This morning, the following email was sent to all Tesla employees:

As we all experienced first-hand, last year was the most challenging in Tesla’s history. However, thanks to your efforts, 2018 was also the most successful year in Tesla’s history: we delivered almost as many cars as we did in all of 2017 in the last quarter alone and nearly as many cars last year as we did in all the prior years of Tesla’s existence combined! Model 3 also became the best-selling premium vehicle of 2018 in the US. This is truly remarkable and something that few thought possible just a short time ago.

Looking ahead at our mission of accelerating the advent of sustainable transport and energy, which is important for all life on Earth, we face an extremely difficult challenge: making our cars, batteries and solar products cost-competitive with fossil fuels. While we have made great progress, our products are still too expensive for most people. Tesla has only been producing cars for about a decade and we’re up against massive, entrenched competitors. The net effect is that Tesla must work much harder than other manufacturers to survive while building affordable, sustainable products.

In Q3 last year, we were able to make a 4% profit. While small by most standards, I would still consider this our first meaningful profit in the 15 years since we created Tesla. However, that was in part the result of preferentially selling higher priced Model 3 variants in North America. In Q4, preliminary, unaudited results indicate that we again made a GAAP profit, but less than Q3. This quarter, as with Q3, shipment of higher priced Model 3 variants (this time to Europe and Asia) will hopefully allow us, with great difficulty, effort and some luck, to target a tiny profit.

However, starting around May, we will need to deliver at least the mid-range Model 3 variant in all markets, as we need to reach more customers who can afford our vehicles. Moreover, we need to continue making progress towards lower priced variants of Model 3. Right now, our most affordable offering is the mid-range (264 mile) Model 3 with premium sound and interior at $44k. The need for a lower priced variants of Model 3 becomes even greater on July 1, when the US tax credit again drops in half, making our car $1,875 more expensive, and again at the end of the year when it goes away entirely.

Sorry for all these numbers, but I want to make sure that you know all the facts and figures and understand that the road ahead is very difficult. This is not new for us – we have always faced significant challenges – but it is the reality we face. There are many companies that can offer a better work-life balance, because they are larger and more mature or in industries that are not so voraciously competitive. Attempting to build affordable clean energy products at scale necessarily requires extreme effort and relentless creativity, but succeeding in our mission is essential to ensure that the future is good, so we must do everything we can to advance the cause.

As a result of the above, we unfortunately have no choice but to reduce full-time employee headcount by approximately 7% (we grew by 30% last year, which is more than we can support) and retain only the most critical temps and contractors. Tesla will need to make these cuts while increasing the Model 3 production rate and making many manufacturing engineering improvements in the coming months. Higher volume and manufacturing design improvements are crucial for Tesla to achieve the economies of scale required to manufacture the standard range (220 mile), standard interior Model 3 at $35k and still be a viable company. There isn't any other way.

To those departing, thank you for everything you have done to advance our mission. I am deeply grateful for your contributions to Tesla. We would not be where we are today without you.

For those remaining, although there are many challenges ahead, I believe we have the most exciting product roadmap of any consumer product company in the world. Full self-driving, Model Y, Semi, Truck and Roadster on the vehicle side and Powerwall/pack and Solar Roof on the energy side are only the start.

I am honored to work alongside you.

Thanks for everything,
Elon
Click to expand...
Working in large corporates for most of my working life I’ve seen quite a few of these sort of messages- blood sweat and tears, fight them on the beaches, sacrifice, etc. The depressing thing is that when you’ve been through a few of them in the same company you realise loyalty is a one way street - they want yours but you don’t get theirs.
 
John K said:
Working in large corporates for most of my working life I’ve seen quite a few of these sort of messages- blood sweat and tears, fight them on the beaches, sacrifice, etc. The depressing thing is that when you’ve been through a few of them in the same company you realise loyalty is a one way street - they want yours but you don’t get theirs.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the loyalty is rarely returned. I've only worked for one corporation and watched it go bankrupt while my boss insisted the CEO had promised our branch would stay open. Ugh. It was obvious they would close our branch, too, and the company would fold. In the end, my boss took a job with the competition, whom he had always insisted were untrustworthy.

I'm not sure if these goings-on and observations change anything about what people think of Musk's type.
 
Asa said:
Yeah, the loyalty is rarely returned. I've only worked for one corporation and watched it go bankrupt while my boss insisted the CEO had promised our branch would stay open. Ugh. It was obvious they would close our branch, too, and the company would fold. In the end, my boss took a job with the competition, whom he had always insisted were untrustworthy.

I'm not sure if these goings-on and observations change anything about what people think of Musk's type.
Click to expand...
I suppose that the situation isn't inconsistent with someone who has had to be taken to the edge of a precipice before they realise there is a problem with their conceptual model of reality..... I'd still go with my previous thoughts, but I'm never confident typing public figures who may be wearing really thick personas that hide their true personality like a good actor on a stage.
 
John K said:
I suppose that the situation isn't inconsistent with someone who has had to be taken to the edge of a precipice before they realise there is a problem with their conceptual model of reality..... I'd still go with my previous thoughts, but I'm never confident typing public figures who may be wearing really thick personas that hide their true personality like a good actor on a stage.
Click to expand...

I agree. It is difficult to type celebs, as well as people we hardly know IRL. It's easier to type characters, who are usually written with exaggerated personalities.
 
Asa said:
It's easier to type characters, who are usually written with exaggerated personalities.
Click to expand...

I find that with characters, it's either easier or extremely difficult, because they can be created with personalities that don't really seem to exist in the actual world. Stavrogin from Dostoyevsky's The Possessed is one example. That dude is just impossible to type, and I tried :laughing:
 
h8D684253
 
I can't say I like Elon Musk, but I can say I get him. He's a software guy with incredible aspirations who wants to do something great, nothing more.
Wait, check that, he wants to do LOTS of great somethings.

He's not brilliant, but is imaginative and contrary to popular thought, he knows how to listen. He doesn't seem have time to think things through as well as he'd like and certainly is not very good at running a company, being much more the advisor type to someone who can... except that he really doesn't like those in charge. (Must be some self-loathing going on there by now).

So, these cuts are a dose of reality dropped on his head he could not avoid. I am certain Elon wanted to keep every one of his employees and fought with his CFO to this point. But the bills come due, and Tesla has had too many setbacks with their line.

Were I him? Yes, I would make the cuts. It's the gut wrenching cold part of business. If things go well there is a chance you may be able to get some of that talent back, unless they've moved on (and I'd hope they would).

Jerk? No.
Clueless? Yeah, a bit.
 
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Changing my vote from NF to NT. Although he is most likely somewhere floating in the middle of the two ... he gives off all the same vibes I have going on, but that might be due to a similar upbringing and education.

He clearly is not an ST in my view though as he does care about people and the future for those people. He just has a hard time showing it as most NTs do.
He's a mess of ideas and ideas and ideas. Very much the dreamer.


Here's what I'm going off of, and why I switched highlighted in green.
https://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti...-mbti-type-dynamics/function-pairs.htm?bhcp=1
FUNCTION PAIRS

Sensing plus Thinking (ST)
STs tend to approach life and work in an objective and analytical manner, and like to focus on realities and practical applications in their work. They are often found in careers that require a technical approach to things, ideas, or people, and tend to be less interested in careers that require nurturing of others or attending to their growth and development. STs are often found in business, management, banking, applied sciences, construction, production, police, and the military.

<snip SF -- way too touchy feely for him>

Intuition plus Feeling (NF)
NFs tend to approach life and work in a warm and enthusiastic manner, and like to focus on ideas and possibilities, particularly “possibilities for people.” They are often found in careers that require communication skills, a focus on the abstract, and an understanding of others. They tend to be less interested in careers that require an impersonal or technical approach to things and factual data. NFs are often found in the arts, the clergy, counseling and psychology, writing, education, research, and health care.

Intuition plus Thinking (NT)
NTs tend to approach life and work in a logical and objective manner, and like to make use of their ingenuity to focus on possibilities, particularly possibilities that have a technical application. They are often found in careers that require an impersonal and analytical approach to ideas, information and people, and they tend to be less interested in careers that require a warm, sympathetic, and hands-on approach to helping people. NTs are often found in the sciences, law, computers, the arts, engineering, management, and technical work.
Click to expand...
 
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