Elon Musk’s 6 rules for insane productivity: Here’s the email Musk sent to Tesla employees about why large meetings waste valuable time and energy

Elon Musk, currently the wealthiest person globally, didn’t achieve his status without immense dedication, hard work, and an unyielding work ethic. Musk’s journey to success has been marked by grueling work schedules, with him enduring what he described as an “excruciating” year, often resorting to sleeping on the floor of his factory and clocking over 120 hours per week. Eventually, he adjusted to a more “sustainable” routine of 80 to 90 hours per week.

Interestingly, one lesser-known aspect of Musk’s approach is his aversion to meetings, particularly large ones. He has openly expressed his disdain for meetings, labeling them as a hindrance to efficient company operations. In a 2018 email addressed to Tesla employees during a period of production challenges, Musk outlined his top productivity recommendations to streamline processes. Notably, one of his suggestions was to minimize meetings whenever possible.

“Excessive meetings are the blight of big companies and almost always get worse over time. Please get of [sic] all large meetings, unless you’re certain they are providing value to the whole audience, in which case keep them very short,” Musk wrote.

He told the company employees to do away with frequent meetings unless something was truly urgent.  In addition, Musk also shared six rules for insane productivity:

1. Avoid large meetings
2. Leave a meeting if you’re not contributing
3. Forget the chain of command
4. Be clear, not clever
5. Ditch frequent meetings
6. Use common sense

Avoid large meetings

According to t0 Musk, large meetings waste valuable time and energy.

• They discourage debate
• People are more guarded than open
• There’s not enough time for everyone to contribute

Musk urged them not to schedule large meetings unless they’re certain they provide value to everyone.

Leave a meeting if you’re not contributing

Musk told his employees to leave a meeting if it doesn’t require their:

• Input
• Value
• Decisions

“Your presence is useless. It’s not rude to leave a meeting. But it’s rude to waste people’s time,” Musk added.

Forget the chain of command

• Communicate with colleagues directly
• Not through supervisors or managers
• Fast communicators make fast decisions
• Fast decisions = competitive advantage

Be clear, not clever

Avoid nonsense words and technical jargon. It slows down communication. Choose words that are:

• Concise
• To the point
• Easy to understand

And most importantly, don’t sound smart. Be efficient.

Ditch frequent meetings

There’s no better way to waste everyone’s time. Use meetings to:
– Collaborate
– Attack issues head-on
– Solve urgent problems
But once you resolve the issue, frequent meetings are no longer necessary.  You can resolve most issues without a meeting. Instead of meetings:
– Send a text
– Send an email
– Communicate on a discord or slack channel

Don’t interrupt your team’s workflow if it’s unnecessary.

Use common sense

If a company rule doesn’t:
– Make sense
– Contribute to progress
– Apply to your specific situation
Avoid following the rule with your eyes closed. Don’t follow rules. Follow principles.

Hats off to Liam and Alex for sharing these on Twitter. Musk also confirmed these tips in response to a recent thread on Twitter. “Correct. Good thread,” Musk noted.

Correct. Good thread.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 26, 2022

Meanwhile, in an attempt to revive the traditional work culture and ambition of Silicon Valley, Musk recently initiated significant layoffs, affecting approximately 75% of Twitter’s workforce. Amidst this restructuring, mainstream media outlets were swift to speculate on the company’s demise. Reuters even went as far as reporting that “the public version of Twitter was at risk of breaking during the night.” However, despite these concerns, the social media giant continues to persevere.