We’ve told Elon Musk’s life story before.
It’s a captivating tale of the South African school boy bullied for being “too smart for his own good” who became a pioneer of four distinct sectors – software, transportation, energy, and aerospace – worshipped by millions.
What it does not thoroughly describe however is Musk’s capability and, even more importantly, his proactivity when it comes to learning the knowledge that has buoyed his rapid ascension to prominence in these fields over the last decade.
Let’s make something clear from the outset: there’s nothing inherent about what Musk has achieved. Learning is not inherent. Knowledge certainly isn’t. He wasn’t born with a bigger or better brain, or an ability that allowed him to use it in ways other people can’t. You are just as capable as he ever was, and if you desire to be at the level, you’re going to want to read this.
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Are you aware of the 10,000 Hour Rule, as popularised by Malcolm Gladwell? The principle claims that anyone who wants mastery over a skill must practice it correctly for 10,000 hours.
Whether true or not, the concept is intrinsically linked to the traditional view on education and careers: choose a field, study until you understand that field, then dedicate yourself to that field until you become an expert in it.
To do otherwise, we’re told, is to risk becoming a ‘jack of all trades, master of none’.
Musk, and so many other great minds in human history, have proven that the jack of all trades has the power to master them all, even more so than those who have dedicated purely to an individual field.
How?
Through the transfer of learning: the ability to take knowledge imparted in one context and apply it to another.
As a child, Musk was an obsessive reader. Feeling disconnected from his family, from his country, and suffering at a school that refused to acknowledge his torture at the hands of bullies, he turned to books for solace. According to his brother, Kimbal, Musk would usually read two books a day, no matter what they were about. In the process, he taught himself about fields which he is considered an expert in – energy and auto-engineering, for instance – alongside fields in which he is not (at least, not yet) considered an expert in – religion, philosophy, physics, design.
This knowledge Musk is the foundation for his excellence. It’s what sets him apart in industries dominated by specified brilliance.
An aerospace engineer addresses a question in the context of his knowledge as an aerospace engineer. Musk addresses it as an aerospace engineer, an energy expert, a software designer, a designer, a philosopher. He sees solutions the engineer can’t, because he can go beyond the immediate context in search of answers in ways a ‘focused expert’ can’t. In these he finds new opportunities, and new questions that drive his projects forwards.
In a AMA on Reddit, Musk described his view on knowledge as such:
“…it is important to view knowledge as sort of a semantic tree — make sure you understand the fundamental principles, i.e. the trunk and big branches, before you get into the leaves/details or there is nothing for them to hang on to.”
By feeding it in such a dedicated way, Musk has built a semantic tree with a larger trunk and broader branches than most.
While he admits that his “context switching penalty is high”, the benefits are clear.
What Musk’s story tells us is that the value of specialisation must be reconsidered, and not just when it comes to entrepreneurs and other field leaders. On every level of business, the ability to move beyond traditional thought is crucial to fuelling the fast and frequent innovation that will ensure continued relevancy in a time of great change.