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Elon Musk reveals his productivity rules in a letter he sent to Tesla employees

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Re: Elon Musk reveals his productivity rules in a letter he sent to Tesla employees

#41

Post by freedomfries »

presidente20 wrote: post #29

Doesn't sound like a great company to work for. Insane production targets coupled with 'by the way we're examining all costs under a microscope'. The part about the midnight oil doesn't even make sense and seems to celebrate excessively hard work which I can't believe is a good thing - the studies I've seen seem to point to anything more than a 7 hour day being counter-productive. Additionally some of the things he h…

If you are working 7 hour work days, then I am coming for your company and for your job. It will happen sometime in the next 10 years but you will be unemployed and replaced by much more productive and engaged fellows.

Re: Elon Musk reveals his productivity rules in a letter he sent to Tesla employees

#42

Post by Robotbeat »

angersock wrote: post #17

How does this increased productivity benefit the workers? Are they getting any personal upside for working harder, I wonder?

Yes, stock options. Also, being able to work on something great and having it succeed. Not only is that its own reward, but it’s also good on the résumé.

Re: Elon Musk reveals his productivity rules in a letter he sent to Tesla employees

#43

Post by tyingq »

sowbug wrote: post #40
mikevm wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Woops. Sorry about that. Don't know if there's a proper way of quoting text on HN.

Since we have this discussion every time a top-voted comment does this, and nobody has ever suggested a solution that I've seen, I don't think it can be done. Just throw a > or two in there and we'll figure it out.

"nobody has ever suggested a solution that I've seen"

Media queries seem straightforward enough.

Re: Elon Musk reveals his productivity rules in a letter he sent to Tesla employees

#44

Post by mieseratte »

Consultant32452 wrote: post #13
mieseratte wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having worked at companies with a 6+ hour long retrospective, planning meeting that was almost entirely useless - I would love the idea. However, at my current job we frequently have little meetings here and there post-standup for clarification, discussions, analysis, of issues, etc. Frequently they do not apply, but I do not find myself willing to leave despite explicitly being told I do not have to be there. It's h…

I feel like you have cause and effect backwards. Being in the meeting is not what gives you social credit, having social credit is what causes people to want to keep you in the meetings. There are generally three main types of problems: social, political, and technical. Once you're known as a person who solves those three, you won't be able to escape the meetings.

You're not wrong, I end up becoming "the guy" at most places I've worked because I not only have the technical wherewithal, but can put blend in and socialize, and have no qualms about engaging in a political dog-fight when there is a need for it. Thusly, I end up being volunteered or asked to be in most meetings, social committees, etc. because my team trusts me to handle whatever happens and my manager knows I will handle it competently.

Maybe I'm not picking a good term / elucidating properly, but the second type of "social credit" is the fostering of a favorable view, building good rapport with your manager. Your manager does not put you in a meeting for shits-and-giggles, either because there is a real need or as some impotent display of power. For the latter, when you walk out you're making some strife and come salary review time, vacation request time, etc. it can bite you in the ass.

This can and will have a chilling effect on the efficacy of the "Fuck Meetings" rule. However, it does make clear the culture and expectations of the organization, so hopefully those managers would eventually shape up or ship out.

Re: Elon Musk reveals his productivity rules in a letter he sent to Tesla employees

#45

Post by ovao »

freedomfries wrote: post #41
presidente20 wrote: post #29

Doesn't sound like a great company to work for. Insane production targets coupled with 'by the way we're examining all costs under a microscope'. The part about the midnight oil doesn't even make sense and seems to celebrate excessively hard work which I can't believe is a good thing - the studies I've seen seem to point to anything more than a 7 hour day being counter-productive. Additionally some of the things he h…

If you are working 7 hour work days, then I am coming for your company and for your job. It will happen sometime in the next 10 years but you will be unemployed and replaced by much more productive and engaged fellows.

Productivity and number of hours worked are orthogonal.

Re: Elon Musk reveals his productivity rules in a letter he sent to Tesla employees

#46

Post by kathe-rine »

alkonaut wrote: post #19

Were the rumors true that workers were unpaid for this "process upgrade" shutdown?

If so, that would align with standard practice in the American automotive industry. The unions only require workers be paid for shut-downs of over 10 working days.

Re: Elon Musk reveals his productivity rules in a letter he sent to Tesla employees

#47

Post by mieseratte »

slededit wrote: post #14
Judgmentality wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some of these I really like, and some of them are well-intentioned but seem disconnected from reality. - Communication should travel via the shortest path necessary to get the job done This sounds like a great idea, however it can lead to things like the CEO pinging engineers to fix problems he doesn't fully understand. I've seen this happen often, and it's really annoying how often we have to tell the CEO he can't d…

I think he was speaking more from the Individual Contributor level here.

That was my impression as well. No better way to GSD than talk to your counterpart on the other side of the aisle and figure out a solution.

For a CEO, VP, or other "executive" type, practicing seagull management is time inefficient for them in any regards. They should be delegating tasks, and trusting their reports to handle the issue.

Of course, sometimes one must become the executive who gets in the weeds as Musk is doing, but that is because the reports have failed in some crucial aspects and one must unfuck the situation.

Re: Elon Musk reveals his productivity rules in a letter he sent to Tesla employees

#48

Post by bsder »

alkonaut wrote: post #19

Were the rumors true that workers were unpaid for this "process upgrade" shutdown?

This is generally Standard Operating Procedure in a manufacturing facility.

Semiconductor plants often shut down over July 4th or Christmas for maintenance. You were compelled to take vacation when that happened or you were on unpaid leave.

In practice, where I worked, most managers generally worked it out informally if you didn't have enough vacation days.

Re: Elon Musk reveals his productivity rules in a letter he sent to Tesla employees

#49

Post by sowbug »

tyingq wrote: post #43
sowbug wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since we have this discussion every time a top-voted comment does this, and nobody has ever suggested a solution that I've seen, I don't think it can be done. Just throw a > or two in there and we'll figure it out.

"nobody has ever suggested a solution that I've seen" Media queries seem straightforward enough.

I mean for content contributors. I'm sure an HN code change could make the site smarter. * Asterisks work for italics * (remove inner spaces), but they seem to crap out for a passage longer than about a line, making them tedious for block quotes.

Re: Elon Musk reveals his productivity rules in a letter he sent to Tesla employees

#50

Post by tyingq »

sowbug wrote: post #49
tyingq wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"nobody has ever suggested a solution that I've seen" Media queries seem straightforward enough.

I mean for content contributors. I'm sure an HN code change could make the site smarter. * Asterisks work for italics * (remove inner spaces), but they seem to crap out for a passage longer than about a line, making them tedious for block quotes.

Yes, makes sense. HN could use a few minor tweaks and upgrades.
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