27A - Reading Reflection No.3

  My third book for this semester was Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a fantastic Future, by Ashlee Vance. I’ve seen and heard quite a few opinions about Mr. Musk and saw a few interviews he’s done over the past couple of years. My initial interpretation of his personality was that he was very smart and had quirky social behavior. The book supported that view and went into more detail about his childhood, early business dealings, and his current situation.  What surprised me most was the schizophrenic nature of his upbringing. He was privileged with opportunity and experiences across the world by his father but also was stunted emotionally by him as well.

   I most admire his drive to explore, learn and create. His boldness at an early age was astounding. His inability to nurture long term relationships is least admirable. Like most groundbreaking CEO’s, Elon had some early struggles and made some wrong moved early in his business career. He continued to move forward and was already on to the next vision before the previous one blew up in his face. He has his own thoughts and doesn’t care what others think. He has a goal and vision and doesn’t let anything deter him from trying to accomplish them.

   I was confused on how little depth there was about Elon’s mother and father and how those relationships affected who he became as an adult. I would have liked to have had a few chapters on his childhood from his parents’ perspective. The book skims across the parental relationships in favor of much more detail about the business dealings.

Two questions I would like to ask Mr. Musk:

1.       Are you burdened by all the ideas you have that you won’t have enough time to pursue?

2.       If you had to re-live a year of your life, what year would you go through again and why?

Mr. Musk’s expectations of hard work are chronicled in the book. He expects his employees to work around the clock to get the job done. If they don’t want to, there are plenty of people who are waiting to take their place. I agree this is hard work, but too hard in my opinion. I think people burn out too soon with this kind of work ethic and you lose the benefits of longevity and experience.