Commercial advisor for large-scale procurement in major projects, critical contracts, & cost reduction. I lead a team applying commercial rigour to help clients achieve optimal outcomes, not just follow processes.
Focus on a single metric helped this chief engineer turn his start-up into a US$180B company. Love him or hate him, Elon Musk has got this dialed in. Get your team focused on a simple metric, and the rest will follow. Elon's company, Space X, where he is the "Chief Engineer," focuses on a core metric (a North Star - pun intended!) 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜: "Cost to launch one pound of payload into orbit." 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐭: Faced with the colossal challenge of reducing space launch costs, Musk’s secret wasn’t an endless budget or cutting-edge technology alone. It was an unwavering focus on one metric: "Cost to launch one pound of payload into orbit." Every innovation, every design change, and every strategic decision was measured against this benchmark. 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐝: Each team member at SpaceX, from engineers to project managers, internalized this metric. This ensured a unified direction and relentless pursuit of efficiency, leading to breakthroughs like reusable rockets and optimized engine designs. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬: Space X is now the industry leader (hands down) because their cost per kg is a fraction of what it usually costs. What's your North Star Metric to align your team and drive relentless innovation? #innovation #focus #northstarmetric
The focus on one metric is always concerning but when it involves cost it can lead to very bad performance. Quality and performance has to be part of the metric. I have been involved in many situations where someone wants to use "cheaper" ground support options from "other jurisdictions" that ultimately don't do the job and lead to significant rehabilitation costs. Always use the right tools for the job.