Say what you like about Tesla and the firm's eccentric CEO, Elon Musk, but the company created a successful path to electric vehicle acceptance. Are Elon and Tesla engineering demigods? Or did they see and act upon something that few others could?
One phrase describes Tesla's perception of how to make EVs practical: Thinking in Systems.
Systems can be simple, extremely complex, and all points in between. They're all around us, yet we don't often recognize them. As a result, we tend to see the parts of a system as the cause of problems rather than viewing the entire system and how it behaves.
A system isn't just any old collection of things. A system is a set of elements - or parts - such as people, cars, molecules, data, or whatever, coherently organized and interconnected to accomplish some function. Thus, a system is synergistic. So, as if to say two plus two equals five, a system is greater than the sum of its parts. Natural systems are resilient, self-organizing, self-preserving, and constantly changing.
To understand how a system works, identify the system's boundaries and then explore the system's stocks and flows. Stocks are elements or parts in a system, while flows are materials entering or leaving a stock over time, like water flowing through a reservoir. A system's stocks change due to control signals from the system's feedback loops.
But you don't have to be a systems scientist to create or modify systems that make a visionary and competitive difference in business. You must know an ideal system's purpose, envision its boundaries, and build it to behave as expected.
Tesla saw that making a compelling vehicle wasn't enough to reach the company's goal to "accelerate the advent of sustainable transport…" (Musk, 2013). What WOULD create the most significant possibility of mass-market adoption was advanced battery technology coupled with a nationwide network of fast-charging stations available to Tesla owners. Those who bought a Tesla early got free charging for the rest of their ownership. Tesla's Energy Division offers rooftop solar and battery storage modules as clean energy home power solutions.
Naturally, other factors complete the picture of Tesla's success. But, systems thinking and Elon Musk's appetite for risk-taking played a decisive role in making the company's goal a reality.
If you'd like to know more about Systems Thinking, check the references at the end of the notes accompanying this episode.
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