Elon Musk once said he challenges requirements because they’re usually wrong. His warning is simple.
Don’t work hard to get the perfect answer to the wrong problem.
This idea goes far beyond engineering. It shows up in leadership, careers, relationships, and the quiet choices that shape our lives.
We’re trained to value effort. Be disciplined. Follow through. Execute well.
All great instincts, but we can spend months optimizing something that never really mattered.
We inherit assumptions, accept the framing, and start solving before asking whether we understand the problem.
Strong leaders question the premise.
What are we trying to accomplish?
If we succeed, what actually changes?
What are the real constraints?
There’s a related engineering mindset that captures this perfectly: the best part is no part at all.
Before improving something, ask whether it should exist in the first place.
This creates a simple hierarchy:
Delete — try to remove the requirement or part
Simplify — if it must exist, make it simpler
Optimize — only after you’re sure it belongs
Automate — last step, not first
Most organizations do this in reverse. They automate and optimize things that never needed to exist.
This is what gives us tools to manage our tools instead of time to do the work.
Grandpa Bob Encouraging Leadership 