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
I believe innovation is the most powerful force for change in the world. People who are pessimistic about the future tend to extrapolate from the present in a straight line. But innovation fundamentally shifts the trajectory of development.
Bill GatesRead
You want to look at what other companies are doing. It's very important not to be hermetically sealed. But you don't want to look at it as if, 'OK, we're going to copy that.' You want to look at it and say, 'That's very interesting. What can we be inspired to do as a result of that?' And then put your own unique twist on it.
Jeff BezosRead
Efficiency innovations arise in industries that already exist. They provide existing goods and services at much lower costs. They are not empowering. Efficiency innovators become the low cost providers within an existing framework.
Clayton M. ChristensenRead
The way innovating companies are designed leaves ambiguities, overlaps, decision conflicts or decision vacuums in some parts of the organisation. People rail at this, curse it-and invent innovative ways to overcome it.
Rosabeth Moss KanterRead
My view is there's no bad time to innovate.
Jeff BezosRead
Do you know what my favorite renewable fuel is? An ecosystem for innovation.
Thomas FriedmanRead