Elon Musk Reveals That His ‘Question Philosophy’ Is What Vaulted Him to Success While Others Failed – Inc.

Earlier this month,Forbesreported that Elon Musk was worth almost $265 billion. That's enough of a success metric for many, but there are other markerstoo: The founding of Tesla and SpaceXsitting at the top of the list. In broader scope, he is pushing the limits on electric and self-driving cars andsetting new bars for space travel. Now, rumor has it he's eyeingownership of Twitter.

How on earth did heaccomplish all of thatby the relatively young age of 50?

Musk revealed his success secretrecently at aTED Talk in Vancouver, inspired byDouglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.It's the kind of counterintuitive thinking that trailblazing CEOs in every industry should absorb and operationalize. He said: "Adams makes this point that it's actually the question that is harder than the answer."

Ok, but why? If you take the premise a step further, you uncover an opportunity for innovation, bar-setting, and unfettered exploration. Most leaders frantically look for answers to questions that others ask. Trailblazers like Musk, however, are the ones who shape our narrative, direction, and strategy by asking the questions.

Obvious case in point: Tesla. Musk didn't set out to answer the question, "How can a car company make a better car?" That's been the driving force behind auto-makingsince the invention of automobiles. Instead, he asked bigger questions that stretched the very idea of what a car could be: How can we use AI to reduce human error in driving and, as a result, dramatically reduce fatalities? How can we make a car that's affordable, uses 100 percentrenewable energy, and leverages automation to simplify driving and remove driver stress?

There are two critical components to the question-asking, however. The first is framing the question around human need. This requires keen observation -- not just within industries or sectors of society, but more broadly:What do our communities need that's not being addressed?

The second is an understood intention to follow up each question posedwith the search for an answer -- not just a convenient answer, but a truthful, impactful answer.

This is how Musk has managed to overturn industries and amass a quarter of a trillion dollars in wealth. Yes, he is seenas eccentric by some and prone toTwitter outbursts, but his genius is in owning both the question and the answer that gird his massively successful enterprises.

Most leaders forget that trailblazing requires asking original, thoughtful questions and finding an answerrooted in truth. They ask, and forget to answer. Or they scramble to find answers to questions already in the ether.

If you want to blaze your own trail, take a page from Musk's book. Be observant. Ask big, challenging questions. Then seek out answers rooted in truth and value.

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

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Elon Musk Reveals That His 'Question Philosophy' Is What Vaulted Him to Success While Others Failed - Inc.