The real reason Tesla never won a Nobel Prize
Nikola Tesla was born in Croatia in 1856 during a lightning storm.
Following the delivery, the midwife remarked, “he’ll be a child of the storm.”
His mother responded, “No, of the light.”
They were both right.
Nikola grew up to become one of the most prolific inventors in human history. He held 300 patents.
He figured out how to deliver electricity to homes. He pioneered radio communication. In 1898, he invented a remote control boat.
Wireless. In 1898.
His peers thought it was a hoax.
Nikola was an innovator. A futurist. A legend. It wasn’t an accident that Elon Musk named his electric car company after him.
But Nikola Tesla never won a Nobel prize, and here’s why.
Nikola Tesla was kind of a jerk.
Multiplicative Systems
Nikola Tesla didn’t play well with others. He exaggerated a lot. Tried to manipulate the tabloids. Made wild claims without following through. Despite his achievements, many of Tesla’s peers thought he was a hack.
Tesla was so bad at managing relationships that when it came to accolades like a Nobel prize, his poor EQ canceled out all the other stuff that made him Nobel material.
It didn’t matter how brilliant Tesla was. His peers thought he was kind of a jerk.
And that brings us to the concept of multiplicative systems.
Multiplicative systems work differently than additive systems.
Additive systems can tolerate a zero. A weak link, like really bad emotional intelligence. But multiplicative systems can’t.
Here’s what I mean.
In additive systems, a zero doesn’t help, but it doesn’t hurt.
5 + 0 + 3 + 4 = 12
But in multiplicative systems, a zero cancels everything else out.
5 x 0 x 3 x 4 = 0
A four-course dinner is additive.
Let’s say you hate beets, and you’re at a dinner where the second course is beet salad.
You can still have a pleasant dinner if the other courses are pretty good. In an additive system, a zero is okay. Just skip the beet salad.
Businesses and financial systems and relationships and careers are multiplicative.
It doesn’t matter that Pete Rose still holds the Major League Baseball records for most hits, most games played, most at-bats, and most seasons with 200+ hits.
Pete admitted to gambling on his own baseball games while playing for the Cincinnati Reds*, and the Hall of Fame isn’t ever letting him in.
*In Pete’s defense, he says he never bet against the Reds.
Gambling on your own team is a deal-breaker. In a multiplicative system, a zero cancels out everything else.
Brilliant Jerks
Brilliant jerks are capable of greatness.
But for high-performing teams and organizations, their brilliance usually isn’t worth the drag on culture and creativity.
Netflix recognizes this. They take a clear position on brilliant jerks. They get rid of them.
CEO Reed Hastings has said,
“Some companies tolerate them. For us, the cost to effective teamwork is too high.”
I never met Nikola Tesla. I don’t know what it was really like to work with him. But I know he probably should have won a Nobel Prize.
And he didn’t.
We may have sterling resumes. The best schools and experiences. We may have intellectual horsepower and impressive credentials.
But if we use and abuse people. If we have emotional outbursts. If we’re insensitive and oblivious.
We’ll never reach our potential.
When we manipulate others and treat people as stepping stones, we’re adding zeroes to a multiplicative system.
The rest doesn’t matter.
