Elon Musk on bad meetings: "It is not rude to leave, it is rude to make someone stay and waste their time."
- Elon Musk reportedly sent Tesla employees a memo, pledging a big push towards productivity as it gets production of its Model 3 car back on track.
- To that end, Musk apparently gave employees some of his personal productivity tricks — including a call for common sense, and his blessing to walk out of a meeting if it's not valuable.
Jalopnik got its hands on a letter from Elon Musk to his employees at Tesla Motors, in which he lays out a plan to get production of its Model 3 electric car back on track by embracing a 24/7 shift schedule, while also urging workers to keep pushing towards greater productivity.
To that end, Musk includes several of his own personal productivity tips.
For instance: "Walk out of a meeting or drop off a call as soon as it is obvious you aren’t adding value. It is not rude to leave, it is rude to make someone stay and waste their time," Musk writes.
Or: "In general, always pick common sense as your guide. If following a 'company rule' is obviously ridiculous in a particular situation, such that it would make for a great Dilbert cartoon, then the rule should change."
Indeed, it's a general theme in Musk's memo that employees should follow common sense, and that they shouldn't be afraid to circumvent the normal Tesla chain of command if that's what it takes to get the job done.
And Musk should know something about the topic: Musk is the CEO of both Tesla and SpaceX, while also leading the Boring Company, his tunnel-digging startup. Indeed, it came out earlier on Tuesday that Musk sleeps on an uncomfortable-looking couch in his office at Tesla just to reduce his downtime.
Read the full letter at Jalopnik here.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.