Challenge the status quo with your business—in good faith
Hardly a day goes by where we don’t hear about a new change Elon Musk has made to the world of tech.
And while these changes are often framed (at least by Musk) as “advancements” to the industry, many critics (myself included) are wary of the impact of these – often seemingly abrupt and impulsive – changes.
As an ex-Twitter (or should I say “X”) user and Tesla owner (I know, I know, I’m reluctant to even admit this), I can speak at least to my personal experience with the technology he’s created or adapted – an experience which has mostly been negative and disheartening.
Because while there’s no doubt Musk is challenging the status quo in all of the industries he has his hand in, my concern is that he’s doing it to build his ego, not for the benefit of society.
He is NOT and never has been the genius many believe him to be, IMHO.
As you’re reviewing the examples I’ve compiled from Musk’s recent track record of what not to do when challenging the status quo, consider how you can do things differently in your own business or industry.
Revolutionary or risky?
Tesla
While not the first electric vehicle (EV), there’s no denying that Elon Musk has done a good job of making many believe Tesla is at the forefront of the electric revolution.
Having grown to become the world’s largest manufacturer of electric cars, there’s also no doubt Musk (as the company's biggest shareholder) has made an impact in the industry.
From the outside, it’s clear that Tesla challenged the idea of what it “looked like” to drive an electric car by introducing “high-end” vehicles with supposed strong performance metrics to accompany them. Though the Consumer Reports ratings on reliability have been consistently low for Teslas.
However, it’s hard to know exactly how much Musk has challenged the status quo when it comes to vehicles unless you own (or regularly drive) a Tesla.
An important note here – Tesla bills itself as a software company, not a car company.
While,
“Indeed it’s comfortable to categorize a company’s business by its industry: transportation, financial services, manufacturing...etc… if you truly want to understand a company’s direction…then you’ll want to connect the company’s ‘trade’ to the value it delivers to its customers.” – Bruno Aziza
Tesla’s intentions? To prove that software can change the game and unlock new opportunities for drivers.
From my experience though, because the cars focus so much on software, the functions and features aren’t convenient, intuitive, or safe.
Here are a few issues I’ve experienced while driving that illustrate this point:
Instead of buttons and levers to do simple tasks like turn on the windshield wipers, you have to use a software interface. I have one button that does a single swipe of the wipers, but if I want to keep them on or adjust the speed, I have to watch for temporary prompts on the screen after I press the button to choose my settings.
On the screen are holographic representations of other cars and your surroundings, but these do absolutely nothing to support you when driving. Plus, when you pull up beside a building, the building is represented by a semi-truck – so the software really isn’t as smart as it thinks it is, is it?
If the car believes you’re near an object or aren’t braking fast enough, it’s quick to scream at you – even if you’re very much aware of what you’re doing and might even be doing it intentionally (for example, pulling up close to a curb).
Even simple tasks like opening the car doors are a challenge for people who haven’t experienced a Tesla before. There’s a button on the inside, but for emergencies, they also put in a lever. I owned my Tesla for about 9 months before I even knew it was there and also found out that using it could cause damage to the door. As soon as I found that out, someone I gave a ride to used it to open the door and I was panicked over whether it was going to leave us with a repair job.
I’m not a big fan of challenging the status quo with an interface that’s radically different from what we’re all used to.
It’s not only frustrating, it’s dangerous!
Having a car screaming at me (when I’m already braking) on the road is a huge distraction and I end up having to do some deep breathing after every incident. Being forced to look down at the screen to adjust my wipers means I’m taking my eyes off the road (which is extra dangerous considering I probably need my wipers on because it’s raining and the road conditions are already risky).
Maybe Musk was inspired by Alvin Lustig and his famous quote, “I make solutions that nobody wants to problems that don’t exist”?
(To be fair, the problems do exist, but perhaps mass public transit would be more effective than filling the roads with more cars.)
Tesla claims that safety is their top priority, and that making driving “ridiculously fun” is their second. But their actions and how they have built the cars indicate the list is backwards—fun is prioritized over safety.
Besides, the idea that EVs are going to solve the problem of vehicle emissions, well … that’s a pretty complicated position to take because there are a variety of factors involved that prove it’s neither straightforward nor ideal.
When it comes to Twitter, the platform has experienced seemingly endless changes since Musk took over control in October 2022.
Especially with the recent rebrand, Musk has made his intentions clear – to create one platform for all communications, whether anyone wants it or not.
Instead of building on the platform, Musk took a well-established brand, crumpled it up, and threw it all away.
Of course, Twitter had its issues. But changing the name from Twitter to X, rebranding “tweets” to “posts,” and getting rid of “the birds,” has done nothing to fix those problems and everything to eliminate what was once quite a revolutionary application with its own language, unique interface, and an ability to connect and share information that was unrivaled by other social media platforms.
If anything, this “rebrand” has caused Twitter to move backwards, reducing it to just another social media application with the same lingo and post capabilities. Who does that!?
Musk has “singlehandedly wiped out over fifteen years of a brand name that has secured its place in our cultural lexicon.” – Mike Proulx, an analyst at Forrester.
Beyond the branding, many of the changes Elon Musk has made with Twitter are questionable to say the least.
Removing the blocking feature.
Recently Musk declared he would be removing the block feature on Twitter, with little to no explanation for the change other than, “it makes no sense.” This means users can’t even self-moderate their timelines effectively anymore.
As many argue though, the block feature actually does make a lot of sense. Blocking is generally a standard option across social networking sites as,
“It helps users remove unwanted posts and followers, including spam messages, trolls, users who harass, and other content they deem inappropriate or offensive…Blocking has also been used to remove unwanted ads or promoters on feeds, or just boycott brands in a show of solidarity from users.” – Alvin R Cabral
While it’s unclear if the policy will be enforced, this change would likely allow for increased harassment, hateful content, bot accounts, and misinformation on the platform.
2. Reinstating controversial accounts (while banning others).
After taking over the platform, Musk made the decision to reinstate some high-profile accounts which had been banned under the previous regime for violating Twitter’s rule. He did this around the same time he eliminated most (if not all) of the content moderation team.
“They included Ye (the rapper Kanye West) who was banned for sharing antisemitic posts, the influencer Andrew Tate (who is currently being held in Romania on charges of people trafficking) and former US president Donald Trump, whose tweets were accused of fuelling the Capitol Hill riots of January 2021.” – Zoe Kleinman
While these changes were made in the name of promoting free speech and “public trust,” Musk is hypocritically making it harder for other groups (specifically minorities and historically marginalized groups) to share their thoughts and opinions freely.
“On Muskian Twitter, many fear that hate speech and disinformation has the potential to go more viral than fact and truth, threatening the very fabric of democracy.” – Jacob Mchangama
Shouldn’t Twitter be a public utility, bringing a platform and safety for all groups, instead of a “safe space” to promote hate, racism, and misinformation? Opening the door to widespread hate, racism, and misinformation seems like he’s also trying to pass this off as moral neutrality because these things aren’t about politics.
“Data collected by researchers who track online hate speech seems to support the recent claims that the platform has become less a place for “healthy conversation” and more a platform where hate and misinformation spread unchecked.” – Brandy Zadrozny
By allowing extremists (especially those who have specifically violated platform rules on hate and misinformation in the past) on the platform, Musk is allowing for a potentially dangerous online experience for many.
Other new bans have illustrated Musk directly undermining his own intentions for a “free speech platform.”
Since taking control he has suspended various accounts, without warning, for violating Twitter rule changes that came into effect quietly.
For example, we saw multiple journalists get suspended from the platform after Twitter made changes to rules about accounts that track private jets.
As Matt Binder, a tech reporter at Mashable shared, the ban was quite shocking,
“I’ve been on [Twitter] since 2008. I never got so much as a slap on the wrist, because I always follow the rules,” Binder said. “It’s not hard to do when you know what the rules are… “This is the very stuff that he’s criticized the previous Twitter of doing.” – Matt Binder
These changes also came after Musk had specifically stated that he wouldn’t ban accounts for following his plane:
So, are these changes really about promoting free speech? Or are they about making changes that serve Musk and protect his ego in the moment?
3. Firing content watchdogs and moderators.
Along the same lines, Musk made headlines in November 2022 when he fired thousands of contractors who worked as moderators, data scientists, and content watchdogs for the platform.
This article shares various tweets about the firings from reporters (namely, Casey Newton, journalist with Platformer and host of a NYTimes podcast), and contractors, who were communicating as the news broke.
These layoffs sparked further controversy about “Musk’s Twitter” and his ideas around free speech.
“[Free speech absolutists believe that] speech should be as free as possible, period. Nowhere is their oversimplification of the issue more evident than on social media, where abuse and disinformation have created a new frontier of regulation – and with it a cohort of disingenuous free speech warriors…If things continue as they are, it is hard to see a future for the company. The ultimate cause of that demise will be the failure of Musk to understand that for some speech to be free, other speech has to be limited.” – Nesrine Malik
In fact, civil rights leaders spoke out about the changes, calling for advertisers to stop spending on Twitter.
The coalition, #StopToxicTwitter, consisted of over 60+ organizations and groups including Media Matters, Free Press, Accountable Tech, and Color of Change.
Together they shared their concerns that the layoffs would impede the company’s ability to moderate content and uphold brand safeguards on Twitter, likely leading to increased hate and offensive speech on the platform.
All of this makes me wonder whether it’s time for businesses to stop using social media for promotion and advertising entirely. We have more power than we claim or use. But that’s a topic for another day.
4. Moving toward “one platform for everything.”
It’s clear Musk is hoping to move toward creating one platform for everything, so that people don’t need to go anywhere other than his application for news, content, and messaging.
However, if this “mega platform” is governed by the same person and rules as Twitter, there’s a huge concern that it will simply amplify all of the safety issues we’re seeing with Twitter alone.
And, frankly, I’m not interested. I deleted my Twitter account months ago after not using it regularly in years. I don’t know what the future of Twitter will be but there are many lessons to be learned from how this has all played out.
Privatized companies are subject to less scrutiny and can be more tightly controlled by the owner, meaning Musk can continue to “tweak platform content rules, finances, and priorities – without having to consider the worries of the investing public.”
Innovative or ignorant?
From grand visions of colonizing Mars, expanding the Tesla fleet of electric vehicles, to chips in human brains, Musk’s ideas might seem innovative at face value.
In fact on the Tesla website itself, the company claims to “solve some of the world’s biggest problems.”
But Musk’s solutions are inherently flawed.
We might not need a new planet to live on if we focused more of our efforts on protecting the earth as it is.
The best option for the planet isn’t to manufacture more cars (even if they’re better for the environment), it’s having less cars on the road.
And when we’re talking about free speech and communication we don’t need more platforms for spam accounts, radicalists and hate, we need changes to the economic, legal, and political systems to break down institutionalized and systemic racism.
Presented in pretty packaging, Elon Musk’s ideas seem grand and exciting. But they’re ignoring the bulk of the problem.
In all likelihood he is making these decisions based on ego – not in good faith.
“[The ego] can be very difficult to spot when it masquerades as selflessness. This type of ego-motivated behavior is driven by a desire to be loved and appreciated. Instead of making decisions based on what is best for the organization, this personality type strives for approval, appreciation or accolades.” – Cy Wakeman
Lack of strategy and planning
It’s hard to believe that there is much strategic planning and consulting at all when it comes to how Musk conducts his businesses.
When it comes to achieving marketing and business goals, there needs to be a well thought-out plan of action so you know how to get where you want to go.
I’ve spoken in depth before about the importance of effectively managing your resources as a company, setting clear goals and outlining steps to get there, creating content that aligns with your values, and analyzing data rather than getting swept away with impulsive decisions and shiny object syndrome.
Musk however, seems to take a different, more chaotic approach. When he has an idea, he wants it to be implemented immediately, without thinking through the consequences or potential downsides.
Take his paid Twitter verification system for example. In November 2022, Musk introduced a plan to charge a monthly fee of $20 for verified users who wanted to keep their blue checkmarks.
After a little back-and-forth with Stephen King, a smaller fee was later instituted, in Musk’s eyes to “defeat the bots & trolls.”
Did it have this effect though? Of course not. After it launched, fake verified accounts flooded Twitter, paying for the check marks so they could impersonate brands including Nintendo and PepsiCo, and public figures like President Joe Biden and LeBron James.
The fake accounts were suspended, and Twitter paused the program a few days later saying they would relaunch it when it was “rock solid.” (They’ve since updated the program).
Is that not something they could have seen coming and prepared for beforehand if Musk had run this idea by more of his team, or allowed more time for implementation and testing?
Those who disagree or question him though might fear losing their jobs, which makes it hard to voice opinions or present new ideas.
And, as the sole owner of the privatized company, Musk has a lot of power when it comes to the operations of the business.
What is your impact on the world?
What does all of this have to do with you?
Aside from it being a reminder to be careful with the companies you’re supporting and associating yourself with, I hope this post also gives you the opportunity to assess and consider your impact on the world.
Even as a small business owner, you have the ability to challenge the status quo in your industry or business.
Consider Spin Sucks for example. What started as a “terribly written, horribly thought out, not strategic blog” (they said it, not us!), by Gini Dietrich has grown into a well known business with a reputation and mission of actively changing the perception people have of the PR industry by promoting high standards of the discipline.
The Spin Sucks team aren’t “spin doctors,” “liars,” or creators of fake news,” they’re focused on ethically coaching and teaching companies how to own up to their mistakes when they’re in crisis, rather than hiding behind lies.
They’ve taken the general perception of their industry and turned it on its head to create positive change.
Consider what changes need to be made in your industry. How can you begin to make that impact on a smaller scale?
What can you do differently?
What new and unique perspective can you or your team bring to your field?
And above all else, make sure to make changes in good faith with input from trusted people who are willing to speak hard truths and ask hard questions. Finally, when they speak, take it in and consider it seriously, especially if your first instinct is to disagree.
It’s easier said than done, but it’s so worth it when you’re wanting to make a positive impact.