I'm sure he's not mopping the floors as well at spacex as there are people for that. But those people aren't the reason spacex exists.

Parent comment isn't talking about just the people mopping the floors. Why are you resisting giving engineers some credit for spacex's success?

These engineers didn't just spawn into reality the day before they were hired at spacex. They've been around for a long time working for other companies. But the things they've been doing for those other companies prior to spacex didn't wow anyone or made the headlines, did it?

Then Musk enters the stage and all these amazing things happen. Yes, the engineers figure all that stuff that makes rockets turn back around from orbit and land on a platform in open waters, but none of that existed before Musk, even though it was, apparently, very possible.

Ultimately it's the synergy between a general and the troops. Shitty troops will lose the battle no matter how awesome the general is; a shitty general will lose battle regardless how awesome his men are. In USA there is plenty of awesome talent (troops) inhibited by tons of shitty generals (entrepreneurs) that have no vision or courage to use that potential to make great things. So when someone great show up, like Musk, it's more than appropriate to commemorate them.

Because most companies employee engineers with unexceptional results. So ultimately it's the hiring, molding and guiding of engineering efforts that leads to supreme success. I'm not an Elon fan -- though I'm not against him -- but it seems to me that somewhere in his recipe, he's figure out this basic truth.

>Because most companies employee engineers with unexceptional results.

You don't think that maybe exceptional engineers are a big part of spacex's exceptional results?

Sure of course. But exceptional engineers produce individual exceptional results that might get lost in the general noise of a company unless it's focused and directed in the right way.

Nah, that is just attributing with and achievements of those technical smart people to management narcissists.