4 ms·
I mean, the world needs both, but if you were proposing to stick me on a desert island with either a batshit-crazy visionary or a boring, immensely competent ex
by mauvehaus 4y ago
I mean, the world needs both, but if you were proposing to stick me on a desert island with either a batshit-crazy visionary or a boring, immensely competent executor, I know which one I'd pick. And I have a hard time believing that she is completely lacking vision in much the same way that I believe Musk has execution skills as well.
I want to be clear: I say all this as an outsider. I know SpaceX has a reputation for long hours and a high turnover rate, and I won't try to apportion responsibility for those to her and Musk (though I'm sure she gets her share), but I certainly give her at least 50% of the credit for SpaceX getting where they are today both financially and technically.
I read a while ago words to the effect of "the mark of a captain with superior ship-handling skills is that they don't get into situations where they need their superior ship-handling skills". As near as I can tell from the outside, that's Gwynn Shotwell.
- mlindner 4y agoI don't like to try to split up credit. They're both absolutely needed but in different ways. (It's one of the things Tesla has lacked for some time.) One of the other things she's good at is smoothing over ruffled feathers of government bureaucrats. But I personally find that there are a lot fewer Elon Musks in the world than there are Gwynne Shotwells in the world. And as to the deserted island. I'd take the Elon Musk personally if I had to pick, but I'd prefer to take both. And as for ship captains. Ship captaining isn't supposed to be exciting and shouldn't be involving risk taking. That analogy doesn't hold into the world of pioneering the new and different. I agree though, if you're running a business based on things that people know how to do well already, all you need is the good ship captain.
- HWR_14 4y agoSerious question: why would you want Musk on a deserted island with you? What skills do you think he'd bring to help you?
- pcl 4y agoWell, people would be looking for him, that’s for sure.
- sam_bristow 4y agoI hear he has plans for a submarine...
- panick21_ 4y agoThinking from first principles on what the right solution to escape is, planning resources, putting together a plan and making me believe its possible. Seems like pretty good person to have.
- sokoloff 4y agoLikely Frank Borman (Gemini 7, Apollo 8, test pilot) “A superior pilot uses his superior judgment to avoid situations which require the use of his superior skill.”