A Lesson in Integrity from Elon Musk

A lawyer, a politician, and Elon Musk walk into a bar. Wait, what was it they taught me on Sesame Street? One of these things…

Integrity is hard to find. So when I see it, I call it out. The other day, I stumbled upon this article reacting to a product engineering quality issue on the Tesla Model S. I have to admit, my initial reaction was not so favourable: yet another flawed product that could have had fatal consequences. Why couldn’t they get it right the first time?

Then I got my midterms back (I’m a co-op student here at IE+D), and I was harshly reminded that everyone makes mistakes. What matters is what you do about it. Sure, the pre-emptive apology was a genius PR move on Tesla’s part. Of course, it was what they HAD to do, wasn’t it? Maybe. Regardless, it takes courage to stand up and admit you failed, and for that I admire you, Elon. I appreciate your commitment to integrity and to serving your customers.

If integrity is a valuable trait in a car manufacturer, it will be even more so for his latest Hyperloop transportation system idea – you don’t want just anyone developing train-sized supersonic projectiles…