Category: 3 – SHELF it (All Categories are 1 – Read ASAP!, 2 – BUY it!, 3 – SHELF it, 4 – SOMEDAY it)
Comments: Always fascinating, sometimes generous in its portrayal of Elon, and occasionally riveting.
Insights that resonated: I don’t yet know what I’ve taken away from the book. That’s not to say there isn’t much.
Elon’s ability to reason from first principles is always fascinating to read about. His ability to then convert this reasoning to simple and ambitious targets and then use it to rally his teams with “surges” is often inspiring. His surge to get Model 3 production up to 5000 per week was just a great display of operational excellence and leadership.
His approach to risk is mind blowing. I think there are few people on the planet who can reasonably label themselves as “risk takers” after watching Elon in action.
Then there is all the cringe-worthy drama that comes with all of this. I think it is lucky the book’s timeline stops when it does. Elon’s actions in the following months would have challenged the heart of Walter Isaacson’s message – which I interpreted to be “Elon is a complex character. All the cringe is just the flip-side of the traits that make the good possible. And there is more good than bad given the inspiring feats he’s pulled off.”
It is hard not to read the book and avoid reflecting on the trade-offs that come with extreme success and wealth.
Also, as someone who works in close relative proximity to Twitter, the portion of the book dedicated to that made for an interesting read. And it definitely inspired me to reflect on the kind of person and leader I wanted to be.
Marler's Observatory 