Before reading:
1. What kinds of problems can occur within an organisation
around communication?
2. How might these phrases be used in talking about the internal
communication in a company?
Schools of thought
Chain of command
Silos
The proper channels
Feedback
Reading - add the
words in:
Read to answer this general question:
What is the problem with the chain of command approach to communication, according to Musk?
No kidding.
to do so
impede
recipe
burying the feedback
This is incredibly dumb.
outlines
Elon Musk is famed for his unconventional management style. The
South African-born entrepreneur behind companies including Tesla and SpaceX has
described himself not as a micromanager but a "nano-manager",
news.com.au reports.
Musk works about 100 hours per week at the electric carmaker
and involves himself in even the tiniest aspects of the business - and this
email, sent by Musk to Tesla employees several years ago, shows how.
In the email, published by Inc Magazine, the eccentric
billionaire ________ his approach to communication inside the company.
"There are two schools of thought about how information
should flow within companies," he writes. "By far the most common way
is chain of command, which means that you always flow communication through
your manager. The problem with this approach is that, while it serves to
enhance the power of the manager, it fails to serve the company.
"Instead of a problem getting solved quickly, where a
person in one dept. talks to a person in another dept. and makes the right
thing happen, people are forced to talk to their manager who talks to their
manager who talks to the manager in the other dept. who talks to someone on his
team. Then the info has to flow back the other way again. ___________ Any
manager who allows this to happen, let alone encourages it, will soon find
themselves working at another company. _________
"Anyone at Tesla can and should email/talk to anyone
else according to what they think is the fastest way to solve a problem for the
benefit of the whole company. You can talk to your manager's manager without
his permission, you can talk directly to a VP in another dept., you can talk to
me, you can talk to anyone without anyone else's permission. Moreover, you
should consider yourself obligated_______ until the right thing happens. The
point here is not random chitchat, but rather ensuring that we execute
ultra-fast and well. We obviously cannot compete with the big car companies in
size, so we must do so with intelligence and agility.
"One final point is that managers should work hard to
ensure that they are not creating silos within the company that create an us
vs. them mentality or ________ communication in any way. This is unfortunately
a natural tendency and needs to be actively fought. How can it possibly help
Tesla for depts. to erect barriers between themselves or see their success as
relative within the company instead of collective? We are all in the same boat.
Always view yourself as working for the good of the company and never your
dept."
Inc Magazine's Justin Bariso argues that while he's a
"huge fan" of the message the email conveys, it's "easier said
than done". "Communication that is forced to go through the 'proper
channels' is a _______ for killing great ideas and ____________ that a company
needs to thrive," Bariso writes.
1. Look back through the text. How many different ways is
Musk referred to?
2. Find some examples of informal language abbreviation. How does this use of language back up Musk's overall point?
