Top two tips from Elon Musk:
–Actively seek out and listen to negative feedback
–Reason with first Principles rather than by analogy. Boil things down to the most fundamental truths then reason up from there
In Silicon Valley it’s often common to pitch by comparing our products, services or ideas to what we already know, “It’s like Twitter for cat pics, or “Uber for deliveries.”
In this fascinating interview with Kevin Rose, Elon Musk says there’s a better way to innovate – first principles.
The benefit of “first principles” thinking is that it allows you to innovate in clear leaps, rather than building small improvements onto something that already exists. Musk gives an example of the first automobile. While everyone else was trying to improve horse-drawn carriages, someone looked at the fundamentals of transportation and the combustion engine in order to create a car.
First principles thinking for innovation, however, takes alot more mental energy.
See the full interview below:
Leave a Reply