7 Mental Models to Think like Elon

Elon could be classed as crazy.

What would happen if you could download Elon’s brain to yours?

What would happen if you had the ability to start a Tesla, SpaceX, or Neuralink?

What would happen if you could think like Elon for 6 months?

How would your career change?

What would you achieve?

Elon’s ability to solve problems makes him unique.

Accelerated careers are always about solving problems.

The better you get, the higher quality problems you face.

That’s the territory for promotions, raises and fast-tracked career progression.

The most valued people on earth are those who find and solve valuable problems.

Think of:

• Nelson Mandela

• Albert Einstein

• Steve Jobs

Leverage their life lessons, to improve your own.

7 MENTAL MODELS TO SOLVE PROBLEMS LIKE ELON

1. First Principles Thinking 

Breaking down complex problems into their foundational truths.

• Identify a problem you're facing.

• Ask 'why' until you can't break it down any more. What are the basic fundamentals of the problem?

• Create a new solution from these truths and fundamentals.

This is how Elon created Tesla’s batteries.

2. Second-Order Thinking

Looking into the future and identifying the downstream effects of your decisions.

Next time you or someone presents an option or solution at work.

Think about what will happen in 10 days, 10 months and 10 years from now.

Helping you avoid the bad stuff and sacrifice short term pain for long term gain.

3. Occam's Razor 

The simplest solution or plan is usually the most effective.

When facing a tough problem at work, list all your options and solutions.

Compare the complexity and number of assumptions of each solution.

Prioritise for simplicity and those with the least number of assumptions.

4. Inversion

Charlie Munger and Warren Buffet use this daily.

Inversion is thinking about problems in reverse.

“What do you want to avoid, instead of achieve?"

“What if this solution was wrong?”

Identify the outcome you want. List all possible obstacles or failures.

Strategise ways to avoid these obstacles.

Key Takeaway: Inversion reduces potential failures by addressing problems before they happen.

5. The Swiss Army Knife

The greatest CEOs, leaders, investors and artists have something in common.

They’re generalists - focused on experience and continuous growth, over expertise.

Experts are narrow focused, generalists are connectors of information.

When it comes to problem solving and creating, the more dots you can connect the better the outcome will be.

Focus on stepping outside your area of expertise to learn more and expose yourself to the other departments at work.

You'll be amazed at how much better your problem solving becomes.

6. Pareto's Law (80/20 Rule) 

80% of outputs come from 20% of inputs.

Identify the 20% of tasks that generate 80% of your promotion worthy work.

(ask GPT to help you by asking this question) 

Prioritise these tasks in your work calendar.

Use this to remove task that do not add value to your work and double down on tasks that do.

E.g. limit time spent chasing people and emailing, double down on time spent improving systems or speaking with customers.

7. Locus of Control

Run a mental simulation of what outcomes you can actually change or control.

You’ll realise it’s not much.

Save yourself the time and energy from trying to influence and control things at work you can’t.

Identify the areas at work you can.

Start from there.

Slowly your zone of control and influence will expand.

Start applying these at work on Monday morning.

1. Pareto's Law (80/20 Rule)

2. First Principles Thinking 

3. Second-Order Thinking

4. The Swiss Army Knife

5. Locus of Control

6. Occam's Razor 

7. Inversion

Good luck!