Different strokes for different b'naires. Elon Musk and Bill Gates — two of the 21st century’s most prominent tech titans — naturally have different approaches when it comes to running their shows. For Musk and Gates, efficiency holds an entirely different meaning. But when it comes to getting things done, who’s pulling ahead in this race without excessive collateral damage?

The “mercurial man-child,” — as American journalist Walter Isaacson described him in the biography he authored on the South African businessman — is notorious for raising the bar often too high for his team, to the point where his demands and promises may prove unattainable. Musk’s dreams and aspirations often manifest in rash, unilateral decisions that at times go against his teams’ best interests — in Isaacson’s biography, the journalist recounts Musk’s insistence on physically moving 2.5k servers ahead of Christmas Eve against expert advice. The result? X (formerly Twitter) destabilized for two months. But Musk still called it a W.

Who’s paying the price for Musk’s failure to lead? Right now, the US. Through the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, — not to be confused with the doge meme, the name of which Musk co-opted for the LOLz — Musk has dismantled USAid, cut down government spending on crucial frameworks, bypassed US congress, and nearly halted the flow of US foreign aid, according to Business Insider. Musk recently announced that he will be stepping back from DOGE — though not before letting his ego do some considerable damage.

Is Gates the hero to Musk’s anti-hero? There was a time when Gates was considered a combative and arrogant leader at Microsoft, according to BI, but the comparison quickly pales when compared to Musk. Gates’ leadership style is all about collaboration and communication. Gates is often noted to ask his team for feedback, Forbes reports, and seems to have a “slow and steady wins the race” approach to things — BI goes as far as calling him a “bespectacled tortoise” to Musk’s chainsaw-wielding hare, and we all know how that story goes.

No one doubts Gates’ coding finesse. Gates built his empire from the ground up. The businessman and philanthropist’s approach to leadership is one that is calculated and empathetic, even helming the Gates Foundation. Earlier in May, Gates announced that the foundation will be shuttering in December 2045, but not before amping up its spending on humanitarian aid to USD 200 bn. Even setting aside the philanthropy, having a 20-year plan is enough of an illustration of both leaders' management styles. Michael Morris, a professor at Columbia Business School, tells BI that “these days Gates looks like a sage compared to Musk.”

So what can Musk — and everyone else — learn from Gates? Well, it’s a safe bet to say that unilateral decisions made with the infamous “move fast and break things” mentality is a no-no… Especially when you’re running a government branch. Moving fast almost always guarantees things going south, but taking your time to make a decision doesn’t guarantee success either, and Gates has long been aware of that — but risk is a part of the game. In 2013, Gates took a USD 5.5 bn gamble in hopes of eradicating Polio — a move that could have easily seen zero ROI, but it paid off. Polio may still be an issue in some parts of the world, but Gates’ efforts led to significant improvements.

For Gates, being comfortable with uncertainty is part of having a solid plan, but that uncertainty needs to be assuaged by other calculations, according to CNBC. When it came to polio, Gates drew upon the history of smallpox — the only disease humanity managed to completely wipe out. In doing so, Gates highlights the importance of slowing down and thinking strategically, but still taking risks.