Tesla vet says that ‘reviewing real products’ — not mockups — is the key to staying innovative
In the fiercely competitive landscape of the automotive industry, innovation is not merely a buzzword but a lifeline. A critical insight into fostering a culture of relentless innovation comes from Jon McNeil, a veteran of Tesla and current board member at General Motors (GM). McNeil attributes much of Tesla’s groundbreaking success, particularly during the crucial Model 3 development, to an unconventional yet highly effective product review methodology pioneered by Elon Musk: eschewing presentations in favor of scrutinizing tangible products.
Speaking at TC All Stage in Boston earlier this month, McNeil revealed the cardinal rule of Tesla’s product meetings: “No slides was our first rule. You have to be reviewing real product.” This hands-on approach, deeply embedded in Tesla’s DNA, was inspired by a pivotal piece of advice Elon Musk received from Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. According to McNeil, Jobs, initially hesitant to engage with a young Musk, eventually imparted a powerful lesson: “Elon, you’re now in the hardware business, but the hardware business is a lot like the software business. If you want to be successful in business, you have to get one thing right, and that is, you have to have a perfect product. And if the product is beautiful, it will sell itself.”
Musk embraced this philosophy wholeheartedly, making the pursuit of a “perfect product” central to Tesla’s development strategy. Weekly, senior leadership and product teams would convene, not to flip through PowerPoint decks, but to interact directly with the latest iterations of hardware and software. The focus was on eliciting “surprise and delight” – features designed to evoke genuine joy or wonder, exemplified by the famous “fart button” functionality. Minimalism was another core tenet, dictating that software functions should be accessible within a maximum of two taps on the screen, ensuring intuitive user experience. Only after these functional requirements were met would the lead designer, Franz, be tasked with perfecting the aesthetic beauty.
This rigorous, product-centric review process cultivated a high-performance culture at Tesla. McNeil noted, “You can imagine the culture that gets communicated when people are bringing their A game to the CEO every week. Because you’re not going to bring your B game to the CEO — especially that CEO, because he’s going to fire you.” This intense scrutiny ensured a “one-week cadence of innovation,” driving continuous progress and rapid problem-solving.
After departing Tesla in early 2018, McNeil brought this invaluable lesson to GM’s board in 2022. He proudly recounted how GM’s leadership, including CEO Mary Barra and President Mark Reuss, adopted similar weekly product reviews. For a colossal enterprise like GM, a $200 billion company with 275,000 employees, implementing a “no slides, real product” policy signifies a profound shift. Whether hardware or software, the product must be physically present in the room – to be touched, felt, and experienced directly.
This strategic adoption has borne fruit for GM’s electric vehicle (EV) offensive. From a singular Chevy Bolt for years, GM has surged forward with 17 fully electrified vehicles, pushing the automaker into second place in the U.S. EV market, trailing only Tesla. McNeil credits this remarkable progress to their unwavering weekly focus on the product, underscoring the universal truth that hands-on engagement with tangible products is the ultimate accelerator of innovation and market leadership.
