Tom Schmidt

The illiterate of the 21st century will be those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn. —Alvin Toffler

• Every mistake is an opportunity to improvise.

Five Cultural Memes That Spread Through the Organization : (1) Tip of the Spear Focus - always identify and attack the biggest limiter, giving it disproportionate resources; (2) Push Through Roadblocks - admitting you're blocked is expected, hiding blockers gets you in trouble; (3) Scrappiness - cost-sensitive resourcefulness over bureaucratic... See more

Be an avid consumer of technology because it gives you insight and advantage over slower adopters

Elon rigorously applies a five-step process across all his companies in strict order — (1) make requirements less dumb, (2) delete the part or process, (3) simplify or optimize, (4) accelerate cycle time, (5) automate. The order is critical: automating or accelerating before deleting and simplifying locks in waste. At Tesla, premature automation... See more

"No amount of sophistication is going to allay the fact that all your knowledge is about the past and all your decisions are about the future."