March 2024
- Pavan Soni
- Apr 29
- 3 min read
This edition of Inflexion Point looks at Elon Musk's 10 laws of management, what does the organization of the future look like, how to make hybrid working more effective as per science, an introvert's guide to organizational visibility, and 10 breakthrough technologies of 2024 from MIT Tech Review.
Musk is the most paradoxical CEO and entrepreneur in the modern times. At one hand he is claiming huge valuations for Tesla while at the same time running X into the ground. He's picked up some very important fringe issue, while regularly eschewing corporate civility. Here're a few insights on his management style: 1) Promote the vision; 2) Keep promising groundbreaking innovations are almost here; 3) Control every aspect of the manufacturing process; 4) Pump volumes at all costs; 5) Ignore conventional corporate financial metrics; 6) Spin ‘situational’ narratives to different constituencies; 7) Make Jack Welch look timid when it comes to turnover; 8) Dispense with public relations; 9) Get paid based on short-term stock price, not long-term performance; and 10) Fund a big vision with a side venture that makes money. (Source: Fortune)
In the evolving organisational landscape, the traditional pyramid structure is transforming into an hourglass, characterised by a lean middle layer, thanks to technological progress. There is no reason that the current changes and choices presented to individuals and firms would save the organisational structure from being severely altered. I propose that the organisations of the future would be more hourglass-shaped than pyramids. Three reasons why: 1) The middle becomes superfluous, as employees become more self-directed; 2) Either you are with the customer, or busy creating IP; or you are getting sucked up by AI; and 3) The top is a network, not a node, where the leaders seek inputs widely and take calculated risk. The organisation of the future will be both bottom-heavy and top-nimble. (Source: People Matters)
A study of 20 million research articles published between 1960 and 2020, and 4 million patent applications submitted between 1976 and 2020, around the globe suggests that although remote collaborators benefit from greater collective knowledge, such teams are less likely to be creative, and are better suited to making incremental progress. While remote teams are more adept at technical tasks, in-person teams are better at conceptualizing new ideas. For instance, when the collaboration distance increased from 0 kilometres to more than 600 kilometres, the probability of disruption fell by about 20%. It could happen that remote collaboration and the lack of sporadic in-person encounters could be reinforcing hierarchies, leading to lesser creativity. Video-conferencing can be a resort here. (Source: Scientific American)
Introverts are typically comfortable focusing on their inner thoughts and tend to recharge in solitude. They like to make an impact, without being visible. But visibility at the workplace is not just nice to have, but is necessary. How do you make your presence felt at a meeting without fundamentally changing who you are? The author offers five tips: 1) Speak up early in meetings to capture attention and make yourself comfortable; 2) Take the pressure off you that not every contribution must be a show-stopper; 3) Ditch self-deprecation and use assertive language instead; 4) Leverage async methods of communication, like newsletters, articles, presentations, etc.; and 5) Show gratitude. (Source: HBR)
Every year, MIT Tech Review publishes its list of the world's most anticipated technological breakthroughs, which may have taken years to come. This year's list comprises: 1) AI for everything, 2) super-efficient solar cells with tiny crystals embedded in them; 3) Apple Vision Pro, the mixed-reality headset with best in class display; 4) Weight-loss drugs, especially with the WHO declaring obesity as an epidemic; 5) Enhanced geo-thermal systems based on deep drilling techniques; 6) Chiplets that can connect chips together to enhance their performance; 7) Vertex becomes the world's first company to get regulatory approvals for gene editing using CRISPR for treating sickle-cell disease; 8) Exascale computers that can perform exaflop’s worth of calculations (1 followed by 8 zeros); 9) Heat pumps that can lower carbon footprint better than gas furnaces; 10) Twitter killers, in the form of Bluesky, Threads, gaining ground. (Source: MIT Tech Review)
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