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Curt Fowler: Got Vision? Elon Does

Curt Fowler

Thursday, June 11th, 2020

“For me it was never about money, but solving problems for the future of humanity.” – Elon Musk

Our family had a blast watching the rocket launch last weekend. I didn’t have kids when the Space Shuttle stopped flying and, like many people, I had stopped watching shuttle launches because they had become so routine.

Nine years without an astronaut being launched from American soil has built tremendous enthusiasm for space and the role America should be playing in it. Launching American astronauts from American soil on American-made rockets was awesome and patriotic. It was something our nation needed in a time of unrest and social distancing. 

What was equally amazing was who made the launch possible – Elon Musk. 

Musk was born in South Africa and moved to Canada when he was 17. He moved to Pennsylvania for college and is in the process of dramatically changing our world through the for-profit companies he leads. He might be the American success story of the century.

Do you want to change the world with your idea? You can. Just like Elon. Here’s what you have to do.

1. Start with a world-changing vision.

“Dream no small dreams, for they have no power to move the hearts of men.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

2. Expect Failure. Know that if you are not failing in some capacity, you are not reaching far enough. I’m not saying you’ve got to go bankrupt. Bankruptcy can be a big speed bump on the way to your vision. But you will fail as you innovate on the way to your vision. Make sure you can afford the failures.

Musk has failed gloriously in his attempts to reuse rocket boosters. SpaceX announced its intent to land and reuse boosters in 2011. It did not successfully land and recover a booster until December 2015. From 2011 to December of 2015, SpaceX blew up a lot of rockets.

SpaceX even celebrated their failures by creating a comical blooper reel titled “How Not to Land an Orbital Rocket Booster.” So far, the video has 20 million views on YouTube.

3. Win with intermediate goals. Musk wants to colonize Mars. This is a very long-term goal that will require a lot of money. It will also require a lot of technology that doesn’t exist today.

Musk’s first step was to figure out how to reuse rocket boosters. The ability to reuse boosters would give him the cost advantage he needs to grow SpaceX in the commercial space business. 

The growing space delivery business will provide funds for the longer-term goal of reaching Mars. And every time they attempt to land a booster, they are practicing the technology needed to land on the moon and Mars. A nice double benefit.

Those victories allowed SpaceX to become the company to launch Americans to space again. As SpaceX gets better and better every day at what it does, the small victories are snowballing. That snowball might lead to the colonization of Mars.

4. Persist. Watch that SpaceX blooper video again. That was a lot of explosions. Those explosions cost a lot of money. Days before SpaceX launched our astronauts to the space station, they blew up another Starship.

Most people could not take this level of public failure. Most executives of public companies would be fired. Not Elon. Like Edison before him, Musk anticipates and expects failure.

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” – Thomas A. Edison

There you have it. Four simple steps to change the world with your ideas.

What change will you be in the world?

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Curt Fowler is president of Fowler & Company and director at Fowler, Holley, Rambo & Stalvey. He is dedicated to helping leaders build great organizations and better lives for themselves and the people they lead.

Curt is a syndicated business writer, keynote speaker and business advisor. He has an MBA in strategy and entrepreneurship from the Kellogg School, is a CPA and a pretty good guy as defined by his wife and four children.