Automation is good, so long as you know exactly where to put the machine

"Yes, excessive automation at Tesla was a mistake. To be precise, my mistake. Humans are underrated." — Elon Musk

In today’s golden age of automation and AI, what can we learn from the experiences of Musk at Tesla?

Firstly, for the avoidance of doubt, it should be noted that Musk is not preaching against automation. Rather, his observation is that “automation is good, so long as you know exactly where to put the machine.”

This sounds obvious, but choosing the wrong process to automate is typically the leading cause of failure for most projects. Rather than blindly diving headfirst into automation, it would be wise to consider the following 2 questions:

1. What can we automate?

2. Does it make sense to automate?

And even after you have identified the ideal process candidate, you might want to perform the following steps prior to embarking on automation:

1. Process simplification - e.g. eliminating redundant steps

2. Process standardization - e.g. harmonizing processes across different business units or geographies to reduce the number of variances

3. Process redesign - particularly when combined with design thinking to enhance the customer and/or employee experience

Following the pathway described above will require some efforts, but then again, the stakes are high: automating the right processes will enable your company to thrive, while automating the wrong processes may result in things unravelling rather quickly!

To learn more, check out our free e-book on how to select the right processes for automation:

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