Elon Musk Requires Managers to Write Code Likening Them to Cavalry Captains

Per Elon Musk's tweets to Zoe from The Platformer

Since Elon Musk acquired Twitter, its number of employees has been thinned out as the new CEO brings up new requirements to check on work. His most recent addition is to require managers to be capable of writing meaningful software themselves.

Musk had been a strong believer in leading by example, as seen in Tesla's description of him:

"Elon leads all product design, engineering and global manufacturing of the company's electric vehicles, battery products and solar energy products."

Now, the Twitter CEO is expecting managers of Twitter to do the same. He says that not being able to code while managing people within the tech company is like being a cavalry captain unable to ride a horse.

This statement came shortly before Musk announced that managers are now tasked to identify low performers regularly. These low performers are then given an ultimatum of up to four weeks to improve or lose their job.

Musk highlighted the different metrics he wants to see:

  • New code is expected to be shipped weekly from software engineers and managers.
  • Contributions have to be demonstrated every week for roles outside software engineering.
  • Approved PTOs and leaves are considered an exception to the weekly expectation.

The Twitter CEO also noted that code deletions are sometimes more valuable than adding them.

Regarding PTOs, Twitter updated its policy, saying two weeks of PTO is now unacceptable. The update means employees can expect to "work through December."

In recent news, Amazon has decided to return its advertising efforts to Twitter, pending security tweaks to the ads platform. Amazon's advertising budget is about $100 million annually.

The news comes shortly after Musk announced that Apple "fully resumed" its advertising efforts on the social platform. The announcement came in a Twitter Spaces conversation with over 90,000 listeners on Sunday, per Bloomberg.

The resolve came after Musk visited Tim Cook, Apple CEO, and had what was described as a "good conversation," resolving misunderstandings about the app potentially being booted off the App Store.

Resources:

Zoe Schiffer on Twitter (Thread 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

Bloomberg

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