S04 Ep. 06 Joe Justice – Working at a Musk Company: Modularity, Innovation and Cash flow

Boundaryless Conversations Podcast

The guest of this episode is Joe Justice. Joe is a legend of Agile and has helped implement Agile across the world in more than 20 countries. He has led Agile practices at incredible companies like Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Boeing, Tesla, Toyota, NEC, and KDDI. In the early 2010s, his passion for mechanical engineering led him to found Wikispeed, an unusual open-source car manufacturing company that pioneered the implementation of Agile practices in manufacturing. It became a global sensation and exhibited at international auto shows.

With Joe, we talked about how he brought Wikispeed and its ideas to Europe over 10 years ago, touring around places and meeting people from the Ouishare network—of which both Stina and Simone have been part—during the heydays of the collaborative economy. We also widely discussed Joe’s engagement with Agile at Tesla and many of the key elements of vision and work culture at Musk’s companies. Additionally, we discussed the role of governments and how their contributions and policies can be conducive to more innovation, and how they should see themselves more as test centers for innovation pathways.

This episode provides a great insider look into what it means to work in a company led by Elon Musk, double-clicking on key concepts such as modularity and cash flow, and why they are essential to rapid innovation.

Key Highlights
👉 The Open Source approach to business.
👉 Maximize cash flow as part of innovation.
👉 The importance of data-driven performance in Musk companies.
👉 The benefit of 12-hour shifts.
👉 The importance of modularity to shorten innovation cycles.

Topics (Chapters)
00:00 Joe Justice’s opening quote
01:13 Intro and Joe Justice’s bio
02:57 When and how WikiSpeed arrived in Europe
08:33 What we can learn from the collaboration between Wikispeed and Tesla
14:18 Agile culture vs Policies and the role of government
49:15 Modularity as an approach
59:53 Joe’s breadcrumbs
01:03:59 Conclusion

Remember that you can always find transcripts and key highlights of the episode on our website: https://boundaryless.io/podcast/joe-justice

To find out more about Joe’s work:
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoeJustice
> Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Joe.A.Justice
> LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joejustice
> Books: https://leanpub.com/u/joejustice
> Classes: https://www.abi-agile.com
> Agile World 2022 Keynote: "Tesla’s Secret Process for Rapid Innovation" Joe Justice: https://youtu.be/XTeZcQ9-Hr4

Other references and mentions:
> Ouishare: https://www.ouishare.net
> TEDxRainier - Joe Justice - WikiSpeed: https://youtu.be/x8jdx-lf2Dw
> Tesla Anti-Handbook Handbook: http://www.ceconline.com/PDF/Tesla-Anti-Handbook-Handbook.pdf
> DevOps: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/DevOps
> Paolo Sammicheli’s books: https://paolo.sammiche.li
> Joe Justice’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@JoeJustice0

Joe’s suggested breadcrumbs (things listeners should check out):
> Zapp! The Lightning of Empowerment: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/22446/zapp-the-lightning-of-empowerment-by-william-byham-phd-with-jeff-cox
> Commitment - a graphic novel about managing project risk: https://commitment-thebook.com
> Great Courses Big History: https://www.amazon.com/Great-Courses-Big-History-Humanity/dp/B07FD45QRD
> Learn anything to an extremely high level of skill: whether it’s pasta dishes or martial arts—choose anything and just go deep.

Recorded on 1 Dec 2022.

Get in touch with Boundaryless:
Find out more about the show and the research at Boundaryless at https://boundaryless.io/resources/podcast
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/boundaryless_
> Website: https://boundaryless.io/contacts
> LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/boundaryless-pdt-3eo

Music
Music from Liosound / Walter Mobilio. Find his portfolio here: https://blss.io/Podcast-Music