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5 WAYS TO REFRAME YOUR

THINKING TO BE MORE LIKE ELON
MUSK
HOW DO INNOVATIVE MINDS LIKE ELON MUSK AND
STEVE JOBS COME UP WITH THEIR GROUNDBREAKING
IDEAS? HERE'S FIVE WAYS THEY THINK DIFFERENTLY.

BY KAIHAN KRIPPENDORFF
Drawing parallels between Elon Musk and Steve Jobs
is irresistible, but how do big thinkers like them come up
with their innovative ideas and how can we reframe our
thinking to do the same?
In "The Shared Genius of Elon Musk and Steve Jobs" by
the TED Talk curator Chris Anderson we get a bit closer
to a dissection what their unique attributes actually are.
But I think we can dig one layer deeper.
I have been thinking about this a lot recently, because
my firm, Outthinker, is attempting to translate our
strategic thinking process into a class for 5th graders.
Our idea is, if we could begin instilling the kind of
thinking in our young children that helps must-solve
problems like global warming or human space travel,
then those children may grow up and solve the big
challenges the human race will face. We have begun
working with an expert in child creativity from Columbia
Universitys Teachers College. And we initially think
there are five modes of thinking that are important to
begin developing:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Visionary thinking
Systems thinking
Creative thinking
Critical/analytical thinking
Influential thinking

These are very similar to a framework we use to train

executives and help them solve important strategic
problems: Imagine, Dissect, Expand, Analyze, Sell (or the

IDEAS framework). Here are the key pieces from

Andersons article to illustrate these five forms of
thinking.
Visionary thinking
Anderson writes that "One of the most exciting things
about human beings is our ability to imagine alternative
futures." He also gives us a peek at Musks thinking by
writing that "A full seven years ago, he posted an article
titled The Secret Tesla Motors Master Plan, which
outlined the basics: three generations of cars, first the
super-high-end sports car, then a sporty four-door
family car, then a mass-market car. And underpinning it
all, the conviction that the cars wouldn't just work, but
be lusted after. No doubt at the time many in the auto
industry chuckled at his naivet. They're not laughing
now."
Systems thinking
The idea here is that often an opportunity reveals itself
to you because you see the interconnection of two
things, the interdependence of things, that others
cannot see. For example, Anderson tells us that Musk
has potentially historic insights every week and
describes one: Musk realizing they could build a rocket
to run on methane (CH4).
He writes, "Okay, it doesn't sound particularly historic.
Until you realize that a rocket of that spec has adequate
range to escape Earth's upper atmosphere and travel to
Mars. And that it so happens that Mars has plenty of
carbon dioxide (CO2) and permafrost (H2O), which
could be neatly converted into the aforementioned
methane (CH4) and liquid oxygen (O2). Which means
you could create the fuel for the journey home right
there on Mars itself. And that transforms the long-term
economics of space travel between Earth and Mars
because it means that you could send manned
spacecraft to Mars without having to carry rocket fuel
with you."
Creative thinking
If you think using analogies from the discipline, or
domain, that others are also trying to solve the problem,
you will not see a new solution. You need to reach
outside of the existing vocabulary. You do this by

looking for patterns, or truths, that are fundamental

building blocks and then applying them to your
problem.
Anderson quotes Musk as saying: "Boil things down to
their fundamental truths and reason up from there, as
opposed to reasoning by analogy. Through most of our
life, we get through life by reasoning by analogy, which
essentially means copying what other people do with
slight variations. And you have to do that. Otherwise,
mentally, you wouldn't be able to get through the day.
But when you want to do something new, you have to
apply the physics approach. Physics is really figuring out
how to discover new things that are counterintuitive."
Analytical or critical thinking
After we have come up with a potential solution, there is
a strong pull for us to return to attempting the solutions
that have already been tried, even though we knew that
we know these dont work. This pull is not a logical one;
it is a social one. Humans have a desire to fit in, and not
be viewed as different. Strong analytical or critical
thinking can give us the confidence to fight against this
pull.
Anderson writes that Musk kept pushing his engineers to
focus on building reusable rockets, an idea that cut
against conventional wisdom at the time. But Musk saw
that reusability, if done properly, would dramatically
reduce the costs of a space program and so was a
critical piece for solving a larger puzzle.
Influential thinking
Finally, all innovators run into the problem that
innovative ideas are always inconsistent with prevailing
logic and beliefs. This is why the ability to influence
others to see your view, and reconsider their logic and
beliefs, is critical. Anderson highlights this skill as central
to their success: "Jobs's reputation for reality distortion
is well-documented. In his own way, Musk is equally
persuasive, trusting his own internal logic and instincts
in the face of intense pushback."
[Image: Flickr user OnInnovation]

KAIHAN KRIPPENDORFF
Author of Outthink the Competition business
strategy keynote speaker and CEO of Outthinker, a
strategic innovation firm, Kaihan Krippendorff
teaches executives, managers and business owners
how to sei
CONTINUE

December 9, 2013 |
6:34 AM

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12 COMMENTS
ELWIN GREEN KAIHAN KRIPPENDORFF

2 YEARS AGO

You say, "For example, Anderson tells us that Musk

has potentially historic insights every week...". But
what Anderson wrote was, " His eureka!moments
happen every few months." Please correct. Thanks.

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ROY BETTESWORTH KAIHAN KRIPPENDORFF

2 YEARS

AGO

I think there are basic rules for sucess - however a

achieving them is another matter all together Firstly create a product that is over half the price of
your oppostion - a product that is just as good and
reliable . You can't go wrong you will be successful no question about it

MAAUG KAIHAN KRIPPENDORFF

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2 YEARS AGO

Just slash money and investments in product so

advanced they do not have any real impact on
consumers. Et voila' Elon Musk


BEN_MARKO KAIHAN KRIPPENDORFF

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2 YEARS AGO

I agree with Bullhonky - at least with who on Earth

actually thinks Elon Musk is a genius. Seems more
like a fad than anything. He hasn't done anything
particularly creative, although I do disagree with
"Not a single idea of either Jobs or Musk is their
own." That is pretty much garbage. They differ from
most people in that they are (or were) good at
recognizing talent and making money off it. And I
am sure both had original ideas of their own.
Remember the story of Steve Jobs drawing the grid
with the four spaces? Consumer, professional,
desktop, portable. It drove Apple's business model
for many years, and still is. I am sure Elon Musk has
had many original ideas of his own, and like Steve
Jobs, many of them failed (though their respective
company propaganda machines do a good job of
whitewashing the facts before they hit the public).
http://www.casestudyinc.com/ap...
It is just cool and sexy to call Elon Musk a genius,
that is all. Fast Company is no exception, the proof is
right here on this page.

IVOR O'CONNOR KAIHAN KRIPPENDORFF

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2 YEARS AGO

Only thing I've seen Steve Jobs do is convince the

cool kids they should use his hardware and
software. You could call Bill Gates the first "genius"
since he convinced people to use his stuff before
Jobs but you don't hear that. And those that want
the very best never left BSD/*NIX and buy their stuff
from places like system76.com.
Musk on the other hand is actually delivering
products that are not already out there. He's putting
things together and accelerating things the
advancement of humans in crucial areas by 10 to 20
years. Comparing sugar water salesmen to Musk
demeans the fastcompany website.

BULLHONKY KAIHAN KRIPPENDORFF

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2 YEARS AGO

I'm so sick of the "Elon is a genius" internet spittle.

Go work for him, or someone like him. (believe it or
not, he is not a rare breed in the entrepreneur world)
Then come back to me and try to make these same
ridiculous claims. I guarantee you that in less than a
year you'll feel sick to your stomach, too, every time
you read these articles.
Before you flame me, do your own fact checking.
The first CH4 engine was built before Elon was born.
SpaceX has yet to reuse an engine, though they still
claim this in their "low cost" launch projections.
Tesla and Solar City are bleeding out cash right now.
There is something pathologically wrong with these
personality types. Sure, they do amazing things...but
they achieve their goals through methods ordinary
people simply cannot grasp. These guys claim
original ideas, when in reality they rehash and
oversell existing ideas. Not a single idea of either
Jobs or Musk is their own. Often, the ideas they
claim as their own are actually the products of
people working beneath them, but this personality
type literally does not understand this and they
honestly believe the ideas are their own.
Additionally, normal people cannot be so incredibly
full/sure of themselves to believe that everyone else
in the world is just an idiot and then use that belief
to convince investors that "your" truth is the correct
one so that they back you. THIS is why most
entrepreneurs will fail. Most of us just can't lie that
well to ourselves, much less to others.

YILDIZ BULLHONKY

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2 YEARS AGO

I understand your point of view..We admire

these people, not because we think that they
are geniuses..but they are initiators...Take
Steve jobs..In the movie as well, he is not a

tech genius, but business genius sort of..and

he has some certain qualifications that are
combined with his ambitions, etc..

PCHAP10K BULLHONKY

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2 YEARS AGO

@Bullhonky, I think a lot of people have a

visceral reaction to people who don't "invent"
the technology they base their success on.
Fundamentally I think it's because role of the
"inventor" is much better understood than the
role of the "innovator". Let me try to explain.
Inventors bring new technologies into the
world (e.g. the light bulb), whereas innovators
generally take existing technologies and
propose new ways to make them valuable or
useful. For example the Sony Walkman was
not the first portable audio player, but unlike
other players it didn't record because it was
intended as a "personal music player". Since it
didn't record it was also lighter and cheaper.
In art no one criticized Michelangelo for not
inventing oil paint. However, when it comes
to new products, people seem to value the
inventor even when s/he isn't the one who
discovers the canonical use for their
invention.
Out of all the famous "inventors" from history,
those who were inventors and innovators are
a small percentage. People like Edison,
Hughes, Marconi, etc... most of these guys
had huge egos. To be an inventor one must
only invent, but to be an innovator one must
convince everyone to use the invention, and
this takes will. When the world tells you that
you're wrong for years, maybe decades, you
simply don't succeed without an unwavering,
contrarian view of the world.
I highly recommend reading this book about
innovation. It's a bit academic but pretty
enlightening:

http://www.designdriveninnovat...

SIMMY BULLHONKY

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2 YEARS AGO

You just said what makes great entrepreneurs

is their ability to lie to themselves.
Congratulations

JOHNNY LE BULLHONKY

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2 YEARS AGO

I don't think Musk or Jobs ever said "these are

my original ideas." Like everyone else, they
stand on the shoulders of giants. One idea
builds on top of the others. What great about
them is that they solve the last piece of the
puzzle, figure out the right combination, find
the right people to harsh out the details. They
have companies so whatever ideas come out
of whatever groups still belong to the
companies, belong to them. They did not do
it alone.
There is nothing wrong with rehash existing
ideas. Most of us dedicate 18 years or more of
our younger life to learn existing knowledge
(a uniqueness of our human species). It would
be pointless to learn if we can't rehash them.
You have as much right as they do to rehash
these ideas. So go ahead and rehash them.
Even if the CH4 engine was built before but
he can take it to the next level now, it's still
his (unless he violates some patent rights).
That's how it works. That's how I don't have
to reinvent the wheel every time I need
something round.
Rcognizing each other's geniuses is a very
important trait. Average people tend to think
they're the smartest, which is why many don't
go to college, while smart people see brilliant
minds around them. Larry Page of Google

said if he dies right now, he would leave all of

his asset to Elon because Elon can get stuff
done, but here you are, feeling sick just to
think of Elon as a genius.

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AMERICAN GUESSER JOHNNY LE

YEARS AGO

Agree with Johnny. Many modern

inventions (and inventors) are bringing
existing pieces together to 'finish the
puzzle' as he puts it. That is the point
of innovation - it can be systemic or
completely altering - but the
foundation will surely be rooted in
something that currently exists, though
that foundation may be inspired by
completely different industries,
communities, nations, or even nature
(check out bio-mimicry as an example)
...

DEEP KAIHAN KRIPPENDORFF

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2 YEARS AGO

Well Put!!

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