Year 12 IB Extended Essays 2018

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Motivation within SpaceX

Musk’s charisma directly influences the motivation in SpaceX’s corporate culture. According to Josh Boehm, ex-employee of SpaceX, COO & Co-founder of Cyph.com, says that: “I frequently did work 12+ hour days…this wasn't because I was forced to, but because I loved my work and saw the value… A phrase we threw around a lot was, “You are your own slave driver.” – Josh Boehm. 18 As mentioned earlier, Musk emphasizes the importance of recruitment and is devoted to employees who are passionate towards the mission. SpaceX engineers often work over 80 hours per week 19 . Musk being able motivate employees to work like this astonishing. Perhaps, part of this comes from Musk’s workweek, which consists of almost 90 hours. He represents himself as the father figure of a great employee. Additionally, working long hours seems to be a part of the culture at SpaceX. If such expectation is has been met, then the employee might be unfit for the company. This perhaps explains why engineers boast of their enjoyment working long shifts, as it is a sense of pride to boast of working at one of the most technological advanced company.

18 Josh Boehm, "I Worked At Spacex, And This Is How Elon Musk Inspired A Culture Of Top Performers", Forbes.Com, Last modified 2018, https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2017/11/08/i-worked-at-spacex-and-this-is-how-elon-musk- inspired-a-culture-of-top-performers/#3d268a7b438f. Web. 13 April 19 Ashlee Vance, Elon Musk , 1st ed. repr., London: Ebury Publishing, 2016.