Elon Musk: Man on a Mission

Who better to introduce the topic of Mission Statements to eager and enthusiastic students than Elon Musk, the innovative co-founder of Paypal and CEO of Solar City, Tesla and SpaceX. He is the 83^rd richest man in the world (15^th richest person in Tech) and the inspiration for Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man. All this, and his mission in life is quite modest… to change the world and humanity for the better by (amongst other things) “making life multiplanetary” and setting up a human colony on Mars!

I’ve created this research task with videos and articles that helps students explore how he achieved such interstellar heights, compare his 2006 and 2016 mission statements and examine how he is turning his lofty dreams into our reality. It also examines how Tesla is continuing its rapid expansion despite not having a profitable year since its founding in 2003.

On the final slide, it asks students to consider the most important factors in Musk achieving his “Masterplan” for Tesla, and in doing so, enables teachers to introduce many of the topics in the Y2 AQA Business Studies Specification… not bad for the first day back!

Wishing you a great year ahead!