DZone
Thanks for visiting DZone today,
Edit Profile
  • Manage Email Subscriptions
  • How to Post to DZone
  • Article Submission Guidelines
Sign Out View Profile
  • Post an Article
  • Manage My Drafts
Over 2 million developers have joined DZone.
Log In / Join
Refcards Trend Reports Events Over 2 million developers have joined DZone. Join Today! Thanks for visiting DZone today,
Edit Profile Manage Email Subscriptions Moderation Admin Console How to Post to DZone Article Submission Guidelines
View Profile
Sign Out
Refcards
Trend Reports
Events
Zones
Culture and Methodologies Agile Career Development Methodologies Team Management
Data Engineering AI/ML Big Data Data Databases IoT
Software Design and Architecture Cloud Architecture Containers Integration Microservices Performance Security
Coding Frameworks Java JavaScript Languages Tools
Testing, Deployment, and Maintenance Deployment DevOps and CI/CD Maintenance Monitoring and Observability Testing, Tools, and Frameworks
Culture and Methodologies
Agile Career Development Methodologies Team Management
Data Engineering
AI/ML Big Data Data Databases IoT
Software Design and Architecture
Cloud Architecture Containers Integration Microservices Performance Security
Coding
Frameworks Java JavaScript Languages Tools
Testing, Deployment, and Maintenance
Deployment DevOps and CI/CD Maintenance Monitoring and Observability Testing, Tools, and Frameworks
  1. DZone
  2. Culture and Methodologies
  3. Agile
  4. What Elon Musk Can Teach Us About Agile Software Development

What Elon Musk Can Teach Us About Agile Software Development

The things that Elon Musk has done with Tesla and SpaceX show a true adherence to the Agile Manifesto.

Gerry Claps user avatar by
Gerry Claps
·
Jul. 01, 15 · Opinion
Like (3)
Save
Tweet
Share
21.79K Views

Join the DZone community and get the full member experience.

Join For Free

After reading an insanely long Wait but Why series looking into Elon Musk and Tesla, I realized that the entrepreneur extraordinaire has a link to agile software development that many seem to miss. And more importantly, it’s something we can all learn from.

The man has blown a personal $180m+ to try and change the world with electric cars (Tesla Motors), solar energy (SolarCity) and space rockets (SpaceX). Impressive, right?

So it’s not very surprising to hear people compare him to “Iron Man”.

Elon Musk or Tony Stark?

But how does this relate to Agile Software Development?

Let’s break down the Agile Manifesto, line by line, to see where Musk puts us to shame (we’ll use electric cars from Tesla Motors as ongoing examples).

“Individuals and interactions over processes and tools”

An office where both design and engineering sit side by side? 

A place where equal weight is placed on both design and engineering?

That makes for some realcross-functional teams. Dependencies are easy to fix when the person with the solution is in the same room as you.

The Tesla Motors team

Musk knows that the old way of thinking doesn’t quite cut it when you’re trying to change the game. He knows that there needs to be an intense focus on two things: the product and the people building the product.

Tesla Motors has a $0 marketing plan. They sell directly to the public and only hire very passionate people.

“Working software over comprehensive documentation”

Anyone a fan of Continuous Deployment? Tesla cars receive regular firmware updates, automatically.

How is that possible you say? It’s a bit like updating Google Chrome.

When you connect to the internet, there’s a quick check done to see if you have the latest version, and if you don’t, it downloads in the background, and then is installed with your next browser open.

Inside a Tesla car

That means there’s no need for thick user manuals or encyclopedia-like requirements documents for you to create. Simply sketch, prototype and develop new features, adequately test them (automation helps, see Continuous Integration), and provide an initial prompt to the user when there’s something new. Your customers can continue using your updated software product, without having to do a thing.

“Customer collaboration over contract negotiation”

If Tesla Motors were to negotiate a contract, they would have never developed an electric car to begin with. The 1800s came and went with failed attempts at commercializing electric cars (unfortunately for us). In other words, electric cars are a proven way to destroy your business.

In spite of this, Elon Musk saw that electric cars were the future.

He may not have directly spoken to customers (initially), but he did speak to the world. A zero-footprint car was the aim. And Tesla Motors was the best solution.

Had Musk opted for a better contract, we would not see the innovation that Tesla Motors has achieved to date. To succeed, innovation must transcend contract negotiations.

“Responding to change over following a plan”

Imagine you find out the perfect commercial design for an electric car battery requires you to use all the lithium ion batteries currently being produced in the world, as they are being made. Bummer, next idea I guess.

Not for Musk — he decided to build a Gigafactory that will produce more lithium ion batteries the entire world was producing in 2013, by 2020. And, at a fraction of the cost (by approximately one third).

Tesla Motors Gigafactory

So I guess the lesson here is, if life throws you lemons, figure out a way to draw electricity from them.


It’s not hard, it just requires effort.

The above principles and practices are all simple things to execute. Yet so many large (and even small) organizations fail to do so. 

Part of it is a lack of self-awareness. Inefficiencies can be hard to spot with a workforce in the 1000s. Another part isn’t though. When there’s a sea of red tape and goals aligned to solely departmental revenue increases, there’s probably a need for you to inject some of practices Musk uses to get Tesla Motors innovating.

I couldn’t end this any better than by providing a quote by the inspiration of Tesla Motors himself, Nikola Tesla.

Start bringing positive change to the agile software development team you’re a part of.

For best practices on writing, testing, and monitoring quality code, get your free copy of the DZone Guide to Code Quality and Software Agility!

agile Software development

Opinions expressed by DZone contributors are their own.

Popular on DZone

  • An Introduction to Data Mesh
  • The Role of Data Governance in Data Strategy: Part II
  • Why It Is Important To Have an Ownership as a DevOps Engineer
  • How to Secure Your CI/CD Pipeline

Comments

Partner Resources

X

ABOUT US

  • About DZone
  • Send feedback
  • Careers
  • Sitemap

ADVERTISE

  • Advertise with DZone

CONTRIBUTE ON DZONE

  • Article Submission Guidelines
  • Become a Contributor
  • Visit the Writers' Zone

LEGAL

  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy

CONTACT US

  • 600 Park Offices Drive
  • Suite 300
  • Durham, NC 27709
  • support@dzone.com
  • +1 (919) 678-0300

Let's be friends: