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In every field there are ways that things are done. To review a fleet of airplanes I assume “the way it is done” would be based on trawling through inspection r
by Joeri 4y ago
In every field there are ways that things are done. To review a fleet of airplanes I assume “the way it is done” would be based on trawling through inspection reports, not looking at the actual planes. Elon Musk has a complete disregard for “the way it is done” to the point of not even trying to do things that way as a sane default to iterate from, and that makes him the sort of person who would line up the airplanes on the tarmac instead of going through inspection reports. That attitude is why people who are deep into conventional wisdom dismiss him as an idiot.
That attitude is also why both his successes and his failures are spectacular. When you deviate from the beaten path and run as fast as you can in that new direction sometimes you reach a far better vantage point and sometimes you just get totally lost in the jungle. With Elon you never know which way things will go.
- recyclelater 4y agoRussia has inspection reports on planes and tanks that don’t run. They say they are ready for use. I’m with the GP - sometimes when you have a goal that you need to reach in a very short period of time, you do things that don’t scale and don’t follow standard best practices. I see zero issues with lining up all the planes on the tarmac and walking a pilot mechanic pair through each of them for a fifteen minute review per plane. Do they find every problem? Do they misdiagnose? Of course. Are they able to roughly say “this feels like the industry norm, I don’t see anything you wouldn’t see at another airline” or “I am surprised at the rough shape of many of the cockpits. Yes they fly but there might be other issues. Two planes stood out more than the others I’d start there for a deeper inspection.” Def not unreasonable.
- Waterluvian 4y agoThis is a perfect caricature of the “how hard can it be?” tech startup mindset. Well done.
- recyclelater 4y agoDefinitely not one to trivialize things and pretend tech can solve everything, or that programmers are so smart. But I am not one to think everything has to be perfect and by the book. Lots of room for rough pragmatism in the world.