Good info ~ thanks.
From a military (army) point of view, where quick turnover is the norm from career enhancing to ensuring everyone gets a chance to perform in the required card punching jobs. During Vietnam era you were in and out within a year or promoted upwards. In the mid to late seventies company grade officers (Lt to Cpt) were flying out the door primarily due to extremely low pay. My officer year group had several hundred additional soldiers to fill the gap. Because I was like Mikey (sp) in the Life cereal commercial back in the sixties, I think, my battalion commander figured “give to Bruce, he’ll eat it.” First, we did not have any captains, and majors were few and far between. Then Carter approved a 14% pay raise and turnover settled down. But, before things settled down, I was changing jobs within months, with ever increasing responsibility and limited experience. As a newly promoted, within weeks, First Lieutenant, I was slammed into a battalion S-3 Operations job, a majors position, and would have held it longer had the Charlie battery commander not been relieved for hitting one of his officers. The army was in piss poor shape trying to recover from the Vietnam war era and transition from a draft force into an all volunteer army. As I was getting close to my retirement in the nineties, transfers were pushed to four years. That began to push my limits of quickly moving forward or my attention span
This certainly is by far not Tesla’s problem ~ period. But turnover is to be expected, especially in a high pressure (pressure cooker) environment. Early on there were not the experts available there are today for Tesla, and the company has/is not large enough to move people latterly like the military. Moving one colonel from a job in California to Germany, as an example in the military, is costly by moving household goods, but causes no management turmoil. Tesla is rapidly growing, technically advancing beyond anyone else, and manufacturing cars unlike any before in my lifetime. So, when managers in Tesla change out, it is hard for the common humans to grasp the fundamentals. While it is easier to attract employees today because of its successes; finding highly qualified people with the right experience is a very narrow pool to select from, since Tesla is on the sharp edge of technology.
Coming from BMW with eighteen years experience would have been called “homesteading” or never leaving a post like Fort Lewis, yet always being promoted. In this case not a bad thing. But highlights the fact that finding top quality people to fill the demand at Tesla a difficult task at best. I also think Tesla will remain a pressure cooker for years to come until things settle down, I expect that fundamentally not to happen while I am alive and I am aiming for at least another thirty years.
Yes, yes, I know many wish I would “fade away like most good soldiers,” but the GrandPups spank me one more to grow on
Thank god there are only two of them, and they are only six and eight
Oh, here is a thought for you about management. How come Civilian Joe, with no military background, cannot cross pollinate into the army/military as a colonel or general; but a colonel or general can become a Vice President of a major corporation and prevent a highly qualified civilian, even with prior military experience from becoming a Vice President? Just a though.
You need to understand the fundamentals too, not just look for them.
