Book Review: Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

An interesting view at the man behind so much of the news. Definitely not a hagiography. Like in his also excellent Steve Jobs biography, Walter Isaacson seems to have had very good access to the man and the people around him, and to give an unbiased account of what he hears. For many contentious episodes, he reports how Elons sees it and how the other party sees it, and leave you to draw your own conclusions.

After reading this book, you come away with a better understanding of Elon Musk and his way of thinking. Some of his philosophy is useful – like “The Algorithm” for simplifying everything. Other parts of his mindset, like his approach to other people, should not be emulated.

Recommended.

Eventually, We Will All Work in IT

By 2057, everybody in the U.S. will work in IT. That’s because IT organizations are able to outgrow anything else. The minimum growth rate is 5-7% increased headcount per year for the same work – as every other bureaucracy. But in addition, every 6-12 months brings a new technological fad that necessitates a whole new team with new skills. Since no old code is ever retired, all the old programmers stay on. And every “simplification” initiative simply adds a new integration platform, yet somehow never reduces the existing complexity.

The radical solution by Elon Musk is to simply fire half the employees and all the contractors and see what happens. Twitter is still up as of today, though its long-term viability is still very much up in the air.

All the other tech companies had apparently been waiting for someone to go first because Amazon, Meta, and others have gotten rid of more than 100,000 employees in the last few weeks.

If there is a better way to streamline IT than a Musk-style massacre, please tell me.