Elon Musk’s 5 Step Design Process by ModelThinkers
1. Make the requirements less dumb
Test assumptions
Requirements from a ‘smart person’ are often the most dangerous since you might not question them enough
2. Delete the part or process
Start from the core and add when required
Each requirement or constraint must be accountable to a person, not a department because you can ask that person about its relevance and purpose
“If you’re not adding things back in at least 10% of the time, you’re clearly not deleting enough.”
3. Simplify or optimize the design
Work through the first two steps before trying to optimize
“Possibly the most common error of a smart engineer is to optimize a thing that should not exist.”
4. Accelerate cycle time
Stay agile but only after the first three steps of the process to ensure you’re moving faster in the right direction.
“If you’re digging your grave, don’t dig faster.”
5. Automate
Complete the first four steps before automating to reduce wasted time
#SharedFromTwos ✌️
