I tend to approach things from a physics framework. And physics teaches you to reason from first principles rather than by analogy.
Elon MuskRead
There's a silly notion that failure's not an option at NASA. Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Failure is a necessary part of the innovation process at NASA, suggesting that without it, true progress cannot be made.
Elon Musk emphasizes that failure is a vital component of innovation, particularly in advanced fields like space exploration. Rather than avoiding failure, NASA embraces it as an opportunity to learn and improve, indicating that taking risks and striving for innovation often lead to setbacks, which are essential for groundbreaking advancements.
Themes
FailureInnovationNasaProgressRisksLearning
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about embracing challenges in a technology conference.
More from Elon Musk
All quotes βThe United States is definitely ahead in culture of innovation. If someone wants to accomplish great things, there is no better place than the U.S.
Elon MuskRead
The space shuttle was often used as an example of why you shouldn't even attempt to make something reusable. But one failed experiment does not invalidate the greater goal. If that was the case, we'd never have had the light bulb.
Elon MuskRead
The reality is gas prices should be much more expensive then they are because we're not incorporating the true damage to the environment and the hidden costs of mining oil and transporting it to the U.S. Whenever you have an unpriced externality, you have a bit of a market failure, to the degree that eternality remains unpriced.
Elon MuskRead
Man has the power to act as his own destroyer - and that is the way he has acted through most of his history.
Elon MuskRead
I've actually made a prediction that within 30 years a majority of new cars made in the United States will be electric. And I don't mean hybrid, I mean fully electric.
Elon MuskRead
Similar quotes
If the idea is really new and unique and big, other people will all think it is bad and is going to fail.
Peter DiamandisRead
It's near impossible to always be right when you're innovating. It's easy to get emotionally invested in it, but you need to monitor its impact like a hawk and react if you don't like what you see. And if/when you pull it back, you want to do that communication with transparency and humility.
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I just invent, then wait until man comes around to needing what I've invented.
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Companies over-emphasize idea generation and under-emphasize idea execution when it comes to innovation.
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I believe we are in a world where innovation in stuff was outlawed. It was basically outlawed in the last 40 years - part of it was environmentalism, part of it was risk aversion.
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If every effect of any new products or methods were required to be known before they could be produced and marketed, they would not be true innovations - and thus not represent new knowledge of what people would like, if offered.
Edmund PhelpsRead