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"I know more about rockets than anyone at the company by a pretty significant margin." That sounds way more like an arrogant micro-manager than an engineer to

"I know more about rockets than anyone at the company by a pretty significant margin." That sounds way more like an arrogant micro-manager than an engineer to me. The quotes I read there make it sound to me like he's about as involved as Steve Jobs was. Which is not a compliment, coming from me.

IMTDb 3y ago
> Which is not a compliment, coming from me. But a compliment for anyone looking at the final results rather than focusing on an incomplete and external perception of the process.
- VikingCoder 3y ago
  Diamonds are beautiful. Blood diamonds are horrific tragedies. Elon Musk is in charge of some projects that have amazing outcomes, yes. But does he actually know the engineering (which is kind of not a very interesting question to me), and is he horrible to work for? I'm pretty sure he's horrible to work for.
balaji1 3y ago
Engineers tend to perceive other engineers as micromanager? And it’s broadly actually true also? Elon being a micromanager (assuming he is) can not be the only reason a rocket (re)flies each weekend.
theonething 3y ago
You mean quotes like this? > Elon is brilliant. He’s involved in just about everything. He understands everything. If he asks you a question, you learn very quickly not to go give him a gut reaction. > He wants answers that get down to the fundamental laws of physics. One thing he understands really well is the physics of the rockets. He understands that like nobody else. The stuff I have seen him do in his head is crazy. Quotes like that give me the impression he's very much involved technically.
rchaud 3y ago
A famous anecdote from the Steve Jobs official biography was where he was telling the CEO of Corning glass about the specifics of glass manufacturing. The CEO just smiled and played along, because they wanted Apple's business. The custommer is always right; even when they bloviate well beyond their area of expertise.

IMTDb 3y ago

> Which is not a compliment, coming from me. But a compliment for anyone looking at the final results rather than focusing on an incomplete and external perception of the process.

VikingCoder 3y ago
Diamonds are beautiful. Blood diamonds are horrific tragedies. Elon Musk is in charge of some projects that have amazing outcomes, yes. But does he actually know the engineering (which is kind of not a very interesting question to me), and is he horrible to work for? I'm pretty sure he's horrible to work for.

balaji1 3y ago

Engineers tend to perceive other engineers as micromanager? And it’s broadly actually true also? Elon being a micromanager (assuming he is) can not be the only reason a rocket (re)flies each weekend.

theonething 3y ago

You mean quotes like this? > Elon is brilliant. He’s involved in just about everything. He understands everything. If he asks you a question, you learn very quickly not to go give him a gut reaction. > He wants answers that get down to the fundamental laws of physics. One thing he understands really well is the physics of the rockets. He understands that like nobody else. The stuff I have seen him do in his head is crazy. Quotes like that give me the impression he's very much involved technically.

rchaud 3y ago

A famous anecdote from the Steve Jobs official biography was where he was telling the CEO of Corning glass about the specifics of glass manufacturing. The CEO just smiled and played along, because they wanted Apple's business. The custommer is always right; even when they bloviate well beyond their area of expertise.