Amazon in one word: Focus!

What Makes Amazon Different?

Amazon has 14 leadership principles which they have posted here: https://www.amazon.jobs/en/principles

Now, at first they seem like a laundry list of stuff that every company will present during on-boarding of new hires. But, after spending some time trying to make sense of this list it becomes clear what it all means. If I have to pick one word it will be - Focus! Everything they do has reason and a desired outcome. It is all centered around delivering value to their customers. Let’s break it down.

F = Focus on the customer

Customer Obsession is their mantra. Aligns with their day 1 story about being the world's most customer-centric company: https://www.amazon.jobs/en/landing_pages/about-amazon

O = Outcome

Deliver results with the right quality in a timely fashion. It is about showing your efforts are resulting in better customer experiences.

C = Criteria for Success

At Amazon you have to think big. That will result in lower cost, which will benefit customers. At the same time, you have to demand high standards. You cannot scale up something that is not working well.

U = Understand how to get things done

There are several key things to understand when working at Amazon. First, bias for action drives everything. You need not reach for  perfection. Instead, ask if you have enough data to move forward. If so, take action. Then comes frugality. Don’t suggest adding equipment and people just because you can. At the same time, be ready to deep-dive into issues. Doing both at the same time will force you to think about alternate paths to a resolution. Then, be curious and open to learning. That will open doors to innovations and simplifications. Lastly, have a backbone, which will allow you to be right, a lot.

 S = Servant leadership

To me, earning trust and taking ownership is servant leadership. It is what will motivate others to follow you. It makes it possible to direct energy toward a challenge and overcome it.

! = Energy

Hire and develop the best are the batteries that drives everything forward. It will multiply your efforts 10X.

FOCUS!

To summarize, the 14 leadership principles are tightly interwoven to enable employees to embrace success by one word - FOCUS!