Background: music is life. When I lost my father at age 12, music got me into through those rough years and early adulthood. So when I see parallels in music and other passions in my life, it excites me to no end.
My friend got me into Grateful Dead a little over a year ago now. It took a few listens, but once I'm hooked on something, I go hard. I've listened to tons of shows repeatably and basically infused myself into this band - learning what the lyrics mean, the band members styles, what the music meant to a generation that was before me.
My friend recommended me read this book, Everything I Know About Business I Learned from the Grateful Dead: The Ten Most Innovative Lessons from a Long, Strange Trip, which I just finished and I saw so many similarities that I had to share my thoughts in case it would help show a little more light on this awesome band.
I have tried to keep this as concise as possible with just bullet points so it gets straight to the point and you won't get bored.
Here it is:
How Tesla and Grateful Dead are One In the Same
GD - using this method in business, marketing, and customer service
Tela – using the Agile method, updating the production lines on the fly, shifting direction when necessary (ex. Going from Nivida AI chips to creating their own)
GD – Put their money back into the business in the form of lights, sounds, instruments
Ex. The “Wall of Sound” – Created to address sound problems
Tesla – Same thing – putting their money back in the business in the form of R&D and expansion
Ex. From the car itself – to chemistry in the batteries – to the drivetrain – to the manufacturing lines – to the factory building – to the process of buying a car
GD – ’91 recession concert business was off by 25%, Dead became top-grossing act – representing 99.4% of all available seats
Tesla – sold more than any of automaker during the COVID-19 situation
GD – “And think about moving the whole human race ahead a step or a few steps” – Garcia
Tesla – Mission is “ to accelerate the world’s transition to renewable energy”
GD – Let fans tape their show and spread the music
Tesla – “All Our Patent Are Belong To You” – Tesla released its patents for others to use – “They have been removed, in the spirit of the open source movement, for the advancement of electric vehicle technology.”
All Our Patent Are Belong To You
Tesla – ditto
Tesla – Vertical integrated factories, about to include manufacturing their own batteries
GD – Employees could give their opinion on the direction of the band and what processes worked best
Tesla – Elon has said on multiple times, and on the last conference call (Q2 ’20) that if an employee has a better way of doing it on the production line please speak up and that would help with the engineering aspect as well
Ex. Two internals helped fixed the Model 3 ramp-up during its initial phase
GD – Being present in the moment on stage to give a truly genuine music experience / Focused on the art of music and not the money
Tesla – Driving the car itself is an experience to the product, something that is new to our way of life / Creating software that allows you to enjoy watchable content and play video games / And of course, Elon has never focused on the money aspect, always striving to make better, cheaper, cars and products that helps drive the mission.
My friend got me into Grateful Dead a little over a year ago now. It took a few listens, but once I'm hooked on something, I go hard. I've listened to tons of shows repeatably and basically infused myself into this band - learning what the lyrics mean, the band members styles, what the music meant to a generation that was before me.
My friend recommended me read this book, Everything I Know About Business I Learned from the Grateful Dead: The Ten Most Innovative Lessons from a Long, Strange Trip, which I just finished and I saw so many similarities that I had to share my thoughts in case it would help show a little more light on this awesome band.
I have tried to keep this as concise as possible with just bullet points so it gets straight to the point and you won't get bored.
Here it is:
How Tesla and Grateful Dead are One In the Same
- Strategic Improvisation - The authors definition is “blending planning and doing while staying alert, alive to fluid situations”
GD - using this method in business, marketing, and customer service
Tela – using the Agile method, updating the production lines on the fly, shifting direction when necessary (ex. Going from Nivida AI chips to creating their own)
- Innovation
GD – Put their money back into the business in the form of lights, sounds, instruments
Ex. The “Wall of Sound” – Created to address sound problems
Tesla – Same thing – putting their money back in the business in the form of R&D and expansion
Ex. From the car itself – to chemistry in the batteries – to the drivetrain – to the manufacturing lines – to the factory building – to the process of buying a car
- Customer Demand
GD – ’91 recession concert business was off by 25%, Dead became top-grossing act – representing 99.4% of all available seats
Tesla – sold more than any of automaker during the COVID-19 situation
- Values
GD – “And think about moving the whole human race ahead a step or a few steps” – Garcia
Tesla – Mission is “ to accelerate the world’s transition to renewable energy”
- Share Content
GD – Let fans tape their show and spread the music
Tesla – “All Our Patent Are Belong To You” – Tesla released its patents for others to use – “They have been removed, in the spirit of the open source movement, for the advancement of electric vehicle technology.”
All Our Patent Are Belong To You
- Collaboration
Tesla – ditto
- Insourcing
Tesla – Vertical integrated factories, about to include manufacturing their own batteries
- Encourage Employees to lead
GD – Employees could give their opinion on the direction of the band and what processes worked best
Tesla – Elon has said on multiple times, and on the last conference call (Q2 ’20) that if an employee has a better way of doing it on the production line please speak up and that would help with the engineering aspect as well
Ex. Two internals helped fixed the Model 3 ramp-up during its initial phase
- Experience Economy
GD – Being present in the moment on stage to give a truly genuine music experience / Focused on the art of music and not the money
Tesla – Driving the car itself is an experience to the product, something that is new to our way of life / Creating software that allows you to enjoy watchable content and play video games / And of course, Elon has never focused on the money aspect, always striving to make better, cheaper, cars and products that helps drive the mission.
