[bro1999]

http://www.autonews.com/article/20180108/RETAIL01/180109853

GM inventory hit 100+ days last summer. GM said inventories would be back to normal by the end of the year, and by the end of 2017 inventories were down to 63 days, beating the 70 day goal.

Second half of the article delves into GM doing what it promises to do, unlike the showboat CEO of Tesla who almost never keeps the promises he makes. Musk's frequency of breaking promises puts "old GM to shame", says the article author.

 

[Steverino]

I was listening to an NPR program featuring a professor who basically said, to achieve anything you need to aim high, that many leaders lie to force achievement. I think some of this applies to Musk, he sets high, aspirational goals. He always fails, but in failing he also does achieve results in the direction of the goal.

Did Tesla achieve his wildly off-base prediction of 5,000 model 3's per week in December? No, not even close. But they did produce maybe 1000/week. That's not nothing.

Of course I also think much of what Musk says is aimed at keeping his acolytes dreaming and his investors from running for the doors.

 

[BAZINGA]

A line from one of my favorite movies I use all the time - "Dream Large" from the movie Local Hero.

 

[DonC]

I was listening to an NPR program featuring a professor who basically said, to achieve anything you need to aim high, that many leaders lie to force achievement. I think some of this applies to Musk, he sets high, aspirational goals. He always fails, but in failing he also does achieve results in the direction of the goal.

I think it depends on how the goals are set. Lou Holtz was a football coach known for turning failing programs around. He said the first thing he did was ratchet down what coaches wanted the players to do. Basically if a coach asks a player to do something they know they can't do, they don't question themselves, they question the coach. In the business world I've seen plenty of growth demands that simply can't be met. This doesn't encourage people to work harder, it encourages them to find ways around the goals. The VW diesel scandal is a good example of this. VW told its engineers to make diesel work or else. The engineers knew they couldn't make diesel meet the emissions standards, so rather than face the "or else", they cheated. Did not turn out well for VW.

While you want high goals they goals have to be believably realistic.

In my mind all the production and quality problems Tesla has are related to a certain style of management.

 

[Qinsp]

In manufacturing, being overly optimistic can be wildly expensive or even lethal.
Buying equipment and floor space and doing prep before it's needed, over-ordering, over-staffing, etc, all cost capital and cash on hand.

Setting long term goals optimistically should be filtered and adjusted for actual progress.

 

[Mister Dave]

Did Tesla achieve his wildly off-base prediction of 5,000 model 3's per week in December? No, not even close. But they did produce maybe 1000/week. That's not nothing.

Tesla made 2,425 Model 3s in Q4 2017, aims to make 2,500 weekly by end of Q1 2018

Tesla falls far short on Model 3 deliveries, pushes back production targets

That should take the maybe out of it. A bit short of 1000/week.

 

[Jmaj]

A line from one of my favorite movies I use all the time - "Dream Large" from the movie Local Hero.

Red Green: "If you want to achieve your dreams, dream small"

 

[Mister Dave]

I think it depends on how the goals are set. Lou Holtz was a football coach known for turning failing programs around. He said the first thing he did was ratchet down what coaches wanted the players to do. Basically if a coach asks a player to do something they know they can't do, they don't question themselves, they question the coach. In the business world I've seen plenty of growth demands that simply can't be met. This doesn't encourage people to work harder, it encourages them to find ways around the goals. The VW diesel scandal is a good example of this. VW told its engineers to make diesel work or else. The engineers knew they couldn't make diesel meet the emissions standards, so rather than face the "or else", they cheated. Did not turn out well for VW.

While you want high goals they goals have to be believably realistic.

In my mind all the production and quality problems Tesla has are related to a certain style of management.

Don's absolutely right here (not sure about the VW thing, but....). You are given a - shall we say - aggressive deadline. You bust your @ss 12 hours a day for 3 weeks and cross the finish line just in time. Then you're told afterward that you didn't meet expectations. You come to realize that no matter how hard you work it won't be good enough.

You fall into a "Why do I bother then?" realization. Been there, done that, left that job......

When the boss keeps promising ridiculous things the general feeling about him is that he's a liar, a fool, or both. Doesn't matter if it's a middle manager or the CEO.

 

[Upper5Percent]

Don's absolutely right here (not sure about the VW thing, but....). You are given a - shall we say - aggressive deadline. You bust your @ss 12 hours a day for 3 weeks and cross the finish line just in time. Then you're told afterward that you didn't meet expectations. You come to realize that no matter how hard you work it won't be good enough.

You fall into a "Why do I bother then?" realization. Been there, done that, left that job......

When the boss keeps promising ridiculous things the general feeling about him is that he's a liar, a fool, or both. Doesn't matter if it's a middle manager or the CEO.

A sign on my desk at the Pentagon read..."A lack of planning on your part doesn't constitute an emergency on mine."

 

[Mister Dave]

A sign on my desk at the Pentagon read..."A lack of planning on your part doesn't constitute an emergency on mine."

In the case of supposed "bottlenecks" and general over-promising I'd say that applies and then some. It really is a lack of planning. But why? At this point the claim can't be lack of experience. It has to either be incompetence, or flat out lying. I'll tell you that when you work under someone with both problems, some seriously violent urges can surface.

In that case I have to fall back on my second favorite saying: "This too shall pass".

We had a General Manager once come out of the President's office and say "I just told him we're going to do X and Y. How are we going to do that?" The reply was "I don't know Bob, you're the one who made the promise."

I was listening to an NPR program featuring a professor who basically said......

There are the talkers and there are the doers. I know which I put my faith in. What goes on at too many universities leaves me wanting - them to get real jobs just once in their lives. They might learn something outside of the bubble.

 

[Steverino]

I think it depends on how the goals are set. Lou Holtz was a football coach known for turning failing programs around. He said the first thing he did was ratchet down what coaches wanted the players to do. Basically if a coach asks a player to do something they know they can't do, they don't question themselves, they question the coach. In the business world I've seen plenty of growth demands that simply can't be met. This doesn't encourage people to work harder, it encourages them to find ways around the goals. The VW diesel scandal is a good example of this. VW told its engineers to make diesel work or else. The engineers knew they couldn't make diesel meet the emissions standards, so rather than face the "or else", they cheated. Did not turn out well for VW.

While you want high goals they goals have to be believably realistic.

In my mind all the production and quality problems Tesla has are related to a certain style of management.

You are thinking old school. These rules don't apply to Tesla. They are breaking the mold.

At least, that's what I have seen some Tesla true believers use as an answer.

I'm trying to be positive about Tesla's efforts, you guys are making that hard, haha

 

[Mister Dave]

I'm trying to be positive about Tesla's efforts, you guys are making that hard, haha

There are good people there who put out Herculean efforts and pass out on the floor doing it. I like those guys. The bullsh*tters, not so much.

 

[supchrgamx]

You guys make me laugh
love,hate, Musk , that's all I hear about ,on a gm forum
what about Mary
what has she done for us, lately

 

[Mister Dave]

You guys make me laugh
love,hate, Musk , that's all I hear about ,on a gm forum
what about Mary
what has she done for us, lately

We drive what she and the crew have done for us lately.

 

[supchrgamx]

We drive what she and the crew have done for us lately.

thank you Mary

 

[bro1999]

You guys make me laugh
love,hate, Musk , that's all I hear about ,on a gm forum
what about Mary
what has she done for us, lately

We drive what she and the crew have done for us lately.

Most model 3 reservation holders still can't say that.

 

[Steverino]

what about Mary
what has she done for us, lately

Delivered Gen 2 at the price, on time.
Delivered Bolt EV at the price, on time.
Bought Cruise automation, gave them resources and turned them lose. They announced autonomous Bolts will be on streets in 2019. Based on past history, she will likely deliver that on time as well.

 

[Mister Dave]

thank you Mary

Explore a bit more and you might learn more.

XT4 coming soon! (link)

 

[Mister Dave]

Bought Cruise automation, gave them resources and turned them lose. They announced autonomous Bolts will be on streets in 2019. Based on past history, she will likely deliver that on time as well.

Don't forget Strobe!

Why GM is vertically integrating as it moves deeper into making self-driving cars

Oh, look! There's Mary!

 

[Steverino]

So,
Mary delivers new models on time.
Mary gets inventory balanced.
Mary buys Cruise and Strobe, and leapfrogs others with autonomous EV's.
Mary banks a $25 Billion war chest.
Mary announces introduction of 2 new EVs within the next 18 months, the first of at least 20 new all-electric vehicles that will launch by 2023.
Other than that...