Company Culture: Why Amazon Is Awesome
I have had the chance to compare first hand the different cultures of several leading technology companies. In my observations, company culture is originally shaped by the founder(s). Whether they hire people whose thinking is aligned with theirs, or their management and communication style gets emulated by other employees, the effect is that the company takes on their personality.
Leaders at all level of the organization make decisions and set the tone for their teams. How they do that is guided by the culture and its tenets. Therefore, writing down and referring to what’s distinctive about the company, how it operates, and what its leaders value is very important.
Among the technology companies I have work experience with, Amazon stands out as having most effectively described its culture. Many companies use platitudes or aspirational statements to describe themselves (or vague guidance like “Do no evil”). Amazon has written down a set of 14 leadership principles, which its employees refer to daily in work situations and which help them make decisions:
- Customer Obsession
- Ownership
- Invent and Simplify
- Are Right, A Lot
- Learn and Be Curious
- Hire and Develop the Best
- Insist on the Highest Standards
- Think Big
- Bias for Action
- Frugality
- Earn Trust
- Dive Deep
- Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit
- Deliver Results
For example, a few hours before I wrote this, I was thousands of miles from my office, walking with a colleague through an Amazon fulfillment center where she works. One of the conveyor lines showed a visible defect. When I asked her about it, she said “I need to show ownership and bias for action here — let me report this issue” and immediately did so on her phone. While hearing such things may sound strange to an outsider, these principles are effective in shaping small and large decisions that add up to a well-functioning and innovative company.
It is difficult to excel at all of these leadership principles or display them at the same time. When we discuss career promotions and provide feedback at Amazon, we frame it not just in terms of career competencies — we also outline one’s strengths and development areas using these leadership principles.
In a leadership training a few months ago, my colleagues kicked off the first day by discussing which leadership principles are most useful to us daily, which are most rewarded when displayed, and which are most misunderstood — and why. Unless you have worked at Amazon, you are unlikely to fully understand the meaning behind each of these tenets just by reading the list. I will expand upon my favorite leadership principles in future posts. Since I haven’t written much lately, my plan is to blog briefly and more often.
