Selected passages from Isaacson's Elon Musk biography

Excerpts from Walter Isaacson's Elon Musk biography describe Musk's management style, which combined unrealistic deadlines with a demanding production process. Former SpaceX engineer Mueller says the sense of urgency pushed engineers to extra effort but also demoralized them, calling it Musk's biggest weakness, though he admits SpaceX still beat its peers and built the lowest-cost rockets in history. The passages also outline Musk's "algorithm," a five-step production method: question every requirement, delete parts and processes, simplify and optimize, accelerate cycle time, and automate last.