Idea Ripper // ArchiveCards: 1555 [Live] | Updated: 2026-10-14
Card #c702IR // #c702Synthesis

When hiring, look for people with the right attitude. Skills can be taught. Attitude changes require a brain transplant.

— In our words · Source: Elon Musk (Walter Isaacson)

[Use when]

Hiring -- screen for urgency and ownership first, train the skills after. If the attitude is wrong, no resume compensates.

[Why it matters]

Skills are a training problem with a known solution; attitude is a character problem with none. Hiring constantly inverts this, buying impressive resumes attached to unteachable people -- then paying for the mismatch in comradery that makes it hard to challenge anyone's work.

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