"Just get up and walk out": Elon Musk’s meeting rule for Tesla employees

Elon Musk described Tesla's approach to meetings during a 2015 conversation at the Edison Electric Institute annual convention and reinforced it in internal written guidance years later. His position is practical: don't spend time in meetings where you are neither helped nor contributing.

At the 2015 discussion, Musk gave a direct instruction: if someone finds a meeting unhelpful and is not contributing, they should get up and leave. When asked whether leaving would be considered rude, Musk replied that leaving was expected and that staying was rude.

# How Tesla's written guidance echoed that idea Musk repeated the same themes in internal Tesla communications. A memo and a 2018 email to employees recommended sharply reducing meeting frequency once an urgent issue is resolved. The email called excessive meetings "the blight of big companies" and advised getting rid of large meetings unless every attendee gains value. If a large meeting is necessary, Musk wrote, it should be kept very short.

# Rules beyond walking out Musk's guidance went beyond the single rule about leaving. He urged employees to:

• Cut meeting frequency for recurring gatherings once the urgency subsides.
• Avoid large meetings unless they provide value to everyone present.
• Shorten any meeting that must occur.

# Communication practices Musk recommended Musk pushed for direct routes of communication to solve problems faster. He wrote that communication should travel the shortest path necessary to get the job done rather than flowing automatically through hierarchical chain-of-command layers. This is a practical instruction to remove bureaucratic slowdowns when a faster connection would complete the work.

# Practical implications for managers and employees For managers: reassess which meetings you schedule and who truly needs to attend. If an agenda doesn't deliver value to all attendees, cancel or shrink the meeting. Stop recurring meetings that outlive their urgency.

For employees: evaluate whether your presence adds value. If it doesn't, leaving is acceptable and expected in Tesla's stated culture. When you do communicate, choose the most direct person-to-person route and use clear language instead of specialized acronyms.

# Why these points matter (practical effects) The guidance is framed around saving time and reducing friction. Fewer unnecessary meetings free people to do focused work. Short, targeted meetings reduce the opportunity cost of gathering people together. Direct communication shortens decision cycles. Plain language reduces onboarding time and mistakes caused by misinterpreted shorthand.

# What the coverage highlights Reporting links the 2015 onstage remark to the 2018 internal email, showing consistency between Musk's public comments and internal directions. The coverage also notes how Musk framed meetings as a "time suck" and gave concrete takes on when meetings should stop being frequent or large.