Working For Elon Musk Flashcards
Concise
adjective
To give information in a short and clear way
* Please give a clear and concise answer.
* Luckily his speech was concise.
Chug down (a drink)
phrasal verb
To drink a large amount of something in a single action
* I had to chug down a couple of espressos after the flight.
* He managed to chug down the entire beer in one gulp.
Management playbook
noun
A set of rules or suggestions considered suitable for business management
* His management playbook is hard to follow.
* I prefer their management playbook to ours.
Cutthroat
adjective
Strict / competitive
* He has a cutthroat management style.
* The movie business is a really cutthroat industry.
Tireless
adjective
Working energetically and continuously
* He worked tirelessly on the project.
* They made a tireless effort to meet the deadline.
Rally (people)
verb
To bring people together to make a shared effort
* She managed to rally her team around this project.
* Zelenskyy is rallying his troops.
Lofty
adjective
High standards
* He has some lofty requirements from his staff.
* These lofty ideals are quite challenging.
Lose track of someone / something
verbal phrase
To no longer know what is happening with someone or something
* I’ve completely lost track of my high school friends.
* Sorry I was late! I lost track of the time.
Rah-rah
adjective
Great enthusiasm
* He had several rah-rah meetings to encourage his team.
* I’m not very fond of his rah-rah style.
“By and large”
phrase
On the whole / In general
* It seems the weather will, by and large, be pleasant this weekend.
* I would say that, by and large, most of our customers are happy.
Crack the whip
idiom
To use one’s authority to make someone else work harder
* He had to really crack the whip to get this job done.
* You should crack the whip if you want them to work harder.
Multi-planetary
adjective
Existing on more than one planet
* Musk’s vision is for humans to become a multi-planetary species.
* Space X has a multi-planetary vision.
The stakes
noun
Things that can be gained or lost
* The stakes are quite high in this deal.
* Have you considered the stakes?
Hardcore
adjective
Highly committed / intense
* He is a hardcore gamer.
* This is going to be a very hardcore job.
Ramp up (production)
phrasal verb
To increase the amount and speed of production of a product
* They have ramped up production on their newest vehicle.
* We need to ramp up production for the Christmas rush.
Opt
verb
To choose one thing rather than others
* They opted to leave the company rather than moving to a new city.
* I opted for the cheaper apartment.
Inherit
verb
To begin having responsibility for a situation that was created by someone else previously
* He inherited a lot of issues from the previous CEO.
* We inherited a lot of financial problems from them.
Couch surfing
noun
To temporarily stay in a series of other people’s homes
* He was couch surfing before he became a famous director.
* She is couch surfing around Europe at the moment.
Mercurial
adjective
Sudden or unpredictable changes in mood and mind
* He has a mercurial and unpredictable personality.
* I don’t like his mercurial management style.
Allege
verb
To say that someone has done something wrong or illegal
* She alleged that he mistreated her when she worked for him.
* It is alleged that he took all the money and disappeared.
Misconduct
noun
Unacceptable behavior by someone in a position of power
* We believe there was some misconduct in that department.
* This kind of misconduct will not be tolerated.
Leaner
adjective
To make a company smaller so that it does not use too many people
* He is very skilled at creating a leaner and more efficient department.
* Our company is much leaner now than before.
Likely
adverb
Probably
* That was likely the most expensive meal I’ve ever had.
* We will likely be able to take that holiday.
Instill
verb
To put an idea / feeling into someone’s mind so that it has an influence on how they behave
* He instilled a great work ethic in his team.
* She managed to instill a sense of pride in all her children.
Deploy
verb
To use someone / something in an effective way
* We will have to deploy our entire workforce on this project.
* He deployed all his skills in that position.
Bureaucracy
noun
Complicated administrative procedures
* All that bureaucracy is driving me crazy!
* We need to eliminate this bureaucracy and paperwork.
Corporate hierarchy
noun
The top-down way staff within a company are organized
* The corporate hierarchy at that company is very unusual.
* The corporate hierarchy at many Japanese firms are still very old fashioned.
Information “filters up”
phrasal verb
Information goes to the top levels in a company from the bottom
* The CEO does not want to wait for information to filter up like that.
* That information filtered up to management eventually.
Financial stakes
noun
Money that is risked on the result of a business
* He raised the financial stakes when he sold his stocks.
* The financial stakes are quite high on this deal.
Something is “in shambles”
adjective
In a state of total disorder
* The economy is in complete shambles at present.
* He left that project in shambles after he quit.
Subscription revenue
noun
Income gained from customers subscribing to a service, usually on a monthly basis
* Netflix is ad-free since it runs on subscription revenue.
* They are barely able to survive on their subscription revenue.
Economic downturn
noun
A decline in economic activity
* Many believe we will see a massive economic downturn next quarter.
* They managed to survive the last economic downturn.
