Absolutely. Does anyone think that a young smart engineer at Boeing would be able to walk up to the Boeing CEO and say “hey I think new technique this will work.” Of course not. But at SpaceX this is a daily occurrence. I just hope Musk is able to keep it this way for the foreseeable future. At some point, Tesla and SpaceX will probably go the same route as Boeing.
Not long ago, I heard an extended radio interview with an aerospace expert who had consulted with Musk on the start-up of Space-X. He described engineers there as full of enthusiasm and working nights and weekends to get things done. In contrast, he described NASA as overly cautious and bureaucratic, slow, and risk-averse.
Can confirm. I stole one of the best engineers I ever had away from SpaceX :-D
“Does anyone think that a young smart engineer at Boeing would be able to walk up to the Boeing CEO and say “hey I think new technique this will work.” “
Sure, but 20 VPs will step forward and lay claim to various parts of the idea and kill it with bureaucracy.