TechCentralTechCentral
    Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    NEWSLETTER
    • News

      Fixing SA’s power crisis is not complex: it simply takes the will to do better

      12 August 2022

      Consortium makes unsolicited bid for state’s 40% stake in Telkom

      12 August 2022

      Actually, solar users should pay more to access the grid – here’s why

      12 August 2022

      Telkom says MTN talks remain on track

      12 August 2022

      Analysis | Rain muddies the waters with approach to Telkom

      11 August 2022
    • World

      Tencent woes mount, even after $560-billion selloff

      12 August 2022

      Huawei just booked its first sales rise since US blacklisting

      12 August 2022

      Apple remains upbeat about iPhone sales even as Android world suffers

      12 August 2022

      Ether at two-month high as upgrade to blockchain passes major test

      12 August 2022

      Gaming industry’s fortunes fade as pandemic ends

      11 August 2022
    • In-depth

      African unicorn Flutterwave battles fires on multiple fronts

      11 August 2022

      The length of Earth’s days has been increasing – and no one knows why

      7 August 2022

      As Facebook fades, the Mad Men of advertising stage a comeback

      2 August 2022

      Crypto breaks the rules. That’s the point

      27 July 2022

      E-mail scams are getting chillingly personal

      17 July 2022
    • Podcasts

      Qush on infosec: why prevention is always better than cure

      11 August 2022

      e4’s Adri Führi on encouraging more women into tech careers

      10 August 2022

      How South Africa can woo more women into tech

      4 August 2022

      Book and check-in via WhatsApp? FlySafair is on it

      28 July 2022

      Interview: Why Dell’s next-gen PowerEdge servers change the game

      28 July 2022
    • Opinion

      No reason South Africa should have a shortage of electricity: Ramaphosa

      11 July 2022

      Ntshavheni’s bias against the private sector

      8 July 2022

      South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

      4 July 2022

      Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

      21 June 2022

      Rob Lith: What Icasa’s spectrum auction means for SA companies

      13 June 2022
    • Company Hubs
      • 1-grid
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Amplitude
      • Atvance Intellect
      • Axiz
      • BOATech
      • CallMiner
      • Digital Generation
      • E4
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • IBM
      • Kyocera Document Solutions
      • Microsoft
      • Nutanix
      • One Trust
      • Pinnacle
      • Skybox Security
      • SkyWire
      • Tarsus on Demand
      • Videri Digital
      • Zendesk
    • Sections
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud computing
      • Consumer electronics
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Energy
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Motoring and transport
      • Public sector
      • Science
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home»Opinion»James Francis»In defence of Elon Musk, the maverick

    In defence of Elon Musk, the maverick

    James Francis By James Francis19 September 2018
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Elon Musk smoking marijuana on the Joe Rogan podcast

    Elon Musk is out of control! We need to take him away from Tesla! He needs to be reined in! Please, will someone think of the shareholders?

    As the Musk saga keeps rolling, recently punctuated by a brief toke on a joint, I can’t help but think of Equality 7-2521, the hero in Ayn Rand’s novel, Anthem. He eventually becomes disgusted with the institutions around him and, upon escape, creates a libertarian utopia in the mountains.

    What destroyed that character’s faith in society was how quickly his detractors would change their context based not on an objective outcome, but for the sake of reinforcing their own dogmas. Ditto for Musk’s appearance on the Joe Rogan podcast. Despite more than two hours of very interesting conversation, everyone targeted the last few seconds.

    Don’t get me wrong. Musk is making mistakes. He should sleep more and tweet less, though I could argue that for just about every working professional today

    It’s not even as if Musk did anything wrong, not unless you decide to view him through a prism of what a CEO should or shouldn’t be — and that tends to be a dogmatic argument. If Amazon didn’t do as well, many would argue Jeff Bezos is an awful CEO for the infrequent dividend payments. But Amazon is profitable, so no one cares. In other words, a good CEO is whatever the subjective measure is for success, based on one’s point of reference.

    Don’t get me wrong. Musk is making mistakes. He should sleep more and tweet less, though I could argue that for just about every working professional today. But how quickly we forget that he helped usher in electric cars, something that had been attempted for a long time, like Ford’s Comuta car from the 1960s. He helped revolutionise space travel, cutting costs up to a tenth of what they were. And as everyone clamours for self-driving car dominance, he has helped make intelligent cars the norm. Now he’s digging tunnels when nobody else took the idea seriously. If I had money to waste, as many investors seem to, I’d give him cash just to see what else he comes up with.

    Is Musk doing too much? Probably. But what we tend to forget about Icarus is that he did indeed fly when no others could. Sometimes there is a price to be paid for that; sometimes there isn’t. Great things are not accomplished in careful steps, at least not until the benchmark has been shifted. The person who tamed fire was not an administrator.

    Grown-ups

    A great example is Google. I fully grasp the need for Eric Schmidt to have eventually become CEO in order for Google to grow. Google matured, so much so that it had to conjure Alphabet to keep the moonshots away from the revenue generators. But as it expanded, it also lost its spark. The famous 20% rule has disappeared and the inventive spirit that propelled Google forward is pretty much gone — or at the least in scarce supply. Google no longer invents; it services. Sure, it has giant balloons, but Google is a shadow of its innovative youth.

    I’m not convinced that Telsa is at that stage yet where it needs a “grown-up” behind the wheel. The iconoclastic impact it is rendering upon the transportation world continues, and that means Musk has more to do. But since we live in a world that loves to tear down its heroes as eagerly as it supports underdogs, we are only too happy to jump on every Musk misstep as vindication for our doubts.

    Elon Musk. Image: JD Lasica (CC-BY-2.0)

    Yet Musk has accomplished more in just the past year than whole countries manage in a generation. And we were fine with that, until we weren’t. Now it’s a crime that he won’t march to the sound of our drums. If you aren’t a Tesla stockholder, none of this has anything to do with you anyway. And if you are, please take a moment. Tesla is a risky venture, plus you should be diversified. Let genius do what genius does. Stop whinging because of “optics”. The world has enough managers. What we need, more than ever, are mavericks.

    I agree Musk isn’t quite on the tracks. Comparisons between him and, for example, General Motors founder William C Durant, are apt. Like Kafka’s Poseidon, Musk should delegate more or risk never cruising the oceans he rules. But you know what? The man has been doing great things. I’d rather support him instead of trying to judge.

    In Greek mythology, hubris is to challenge the gods and thinking you can win. But if you win, it’s self-efficacy (to borrow from Prof Melissa Schilling). Who really cares if Tesla isn’t making a profit or is behind schedule? Google now sells ads. Microsoft sells cloud bytes. Amazon sells trinkets. Now it’s Tesla’s turn to change the world.

    Elon Musk James Francis Joe Rogan SpaceX Tesla top
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Previous ArticleTesla facing criminal probe over Elon Musk statements
    Next Article Hackers target bitcoin with leaked NSA software

    Related Posts

    Elon Musk sells $6.9-billion of Tesla to avoid Twitter fire sale

    10 August 2022

    Musk challenges Twitter CEO to a public debate

    7 August 2022

    BMW bets on a subscriptions future, even after heated seats outrage

    5 August 2022
    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Promoted

    Get your brand in front of TechCentral’s amazing audience

    12 August 2022

    Pricing Beyond CMYK: printers answer the FAQs

    11 August 2022

    How secure is your cloud?

    10 August 2022
    Opinion

    No reason South Africa should have a shortage of electricity: Ramaphosa

    11 July 2022

    Ntshavheni’s bias against the private sector

    8 July 2022

    South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

    4 July 2022

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2022 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.